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Evaluation of Beta-Carotene, Iron and other Micronutrient Status of Rats Fed Sun or Shade-Dried Fluted Pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis) Leaves and its Product, the Leaf Curd

Received: 20 August 2014     Accepted: 1 September 2014     Published: 20 September 2014
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Abstract

The effects of differently processed leaves and the curd of fluted pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis)on beta carotene, iron, ascorbate, zinc, copper and calcium status of rats were evaluated. Fluted pumpkin leaf was divided into four (4) portions. One was shade-dried, another was sun-dried and the other was used to produce leaf curd. The last portion was not processed and served as the control. All the processed samples were milled to fine flour andeach of the pumpkin leaf flour was incorporated into rat chow for a 28-day study period. Twenty (20) male weanling rats were divided into four (4) groups of five (5) rats each. They were housed in individual metabolism cages and fed diets and water ad libitum. Blood samples were drawn before and after the experiment by ocular puncture and were used for biochemical analysis. Blood plasma was used to determine haemoglobin while serum was used to determine pro- vitamin A, ascorbate, ferritin, iron, copper, zinc and calcium. The liver was individually removed and analysed for liver ferritin, ascorbate and other micronutrients. The results showed that the rats fed rat chow supplemented with dried leaf curd had higher serum beta carotene, ascorbate, and ferritin than those of the other groups. The rats fed rat chow supplemented with shade dried-fluted pumpkin leaf had higher (p<0.05) haemoglobin level, liver beta-carotene and ascorbate than the other groups. The result showed that processing fluted pumpkin leaf into leaf curd improved serum beta-carotene, serum and liver ascorbate, serum ferritin and liver iron of rats more than other processing methods.

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 2, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20140205.22
Page(s) 454-460
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Beta-Carotene, Iron, Micronutrient, Rats, Fluted Pumpkin, Leaf Curd

References
[1] Gill, L.S. (1992). Ethnomedical uses of plants in Nigeria. Uniben press. Benin citypg(188-189).
[2] Okoli, B.E. and Mgbeogu, C.M. (1983). Fluted pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis). West Africa Veg. Crop. Eco. Bot. 7: 145-149.
[3] Nkang, A., Omokkaro, D., Egbe, A. and Amake, G. (2003). Variation in fatty proportion during desiccation of Telfariaoccidentalis seeds harvested at physiological and agronomic maturity. Afri. J. Biotech. 2: 33-39.
[4] Alada (2000). The hematological effects of Telfariaoccidentalis diet preparation. Afri. J. Biomed. Res. 3: 185-186.
[5] Tindal, H.D. (1983). Vegetables in the tropics. McMillian Press. London.
[6] Nwozo, S. O., Adaramoye, O. A., Ajaiyeoba, E. O. (2004). Antidiabetic and hypolipidemic studies of Telfariaoccidentalis on alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Nig. J. Nat. Prod. and Med. 8: 45-47.
[7] Kennedy, D. (1993). Leaf for life. www.leafforlife.org/pdfs/english/leaf.comm.pdf. Last updated 2002.
[8] FGN/UNICEF (1994). The Nutritional Status of Women and Children in Nigeria. Federal Government of Nigeria, Abuja and UNICEF, Lagos.
[9] UNICEF/UNU/WHO/MI (1999). Preventing iron deficiency in women and children: Technical Consensus on Key Issues. Technical workshop. Oct., 7-9, 1998. Bastonand Ottawa: International Nutrition Foundation and Micronutrient Initiative.
[10] WHO/OMS. (2003). http://www.who.int/nut/vad.htm
[11] ACC/SCN (2000). Fourth Report on the World Nutrition Situation. Geneva ACC/SCN.
[12] Christian, P., West, K.P.Jr, Khatry, S.K., Katz, J. LeClerq, S.C., Kimbrough-Predhan, E., Dali, S.M. and Shrestha, S.R. (2000). Vitamin A. or β-carotene supplementation reduce symthoms of illness in pregnant and lactating Nepali women. J. Nutr. 130:2675-2682. MEDLINE.
[13] WHO. (1998). Randomized trial to access benefits and safety of vitamin A supplementation linked to immunization in early infancy. The Lancet. 352:1257 1263.
[14] International committee for standardization in haematology (1967). Recommendations for haemoglobinometry in human blood. Br. J. Haematol13: 71-78.
[15] Bothwell, T.H., Charlton, R.W., Cook, J.D. and Finch, C.A. (1979). Iron metabolism in man. Blackwell, Oxford.
[16] International Committee for Standardization in Haematology (Iron Panel). (1978). Brit. J Haematol 38: 291-295.
[17] Obi, I.U. (1986). Statistical methods of detecting differences between treatment means. SNAAP Press Nigeria Ltd. Enugu.
[18] Steel, and Torrie, J.H. (1960). Principles and procedures of statistics. New York. McGraw Hill Book Co. Inc.
[19] Haskell, M.J., Jamil, K.M., Hassan, F., Pearson, J.M., Hossain, M.I., Fuchs, G.J., Brown, K.H. (2005). Daily consumption of Indian Spinach (Basellaalba) or sweet potatoes has a positive impact on total body vitamin A pool size in Bangladeshi men. A paper presented at the xxii international vitamin A consultative group meeting held from 15-17th Nov., 2004 at Lima Peru; In: Report of the 2004 International vitamin A. Consultative Group Meeting. Vitamin A and the common agenda for micronutrients. Pg. 66.
[20] Naiho, A. O., Nwangwa, E. K. And Aninye, I. (2005). Effect of low dose of aqueous extract of Rauwfoliavomitoria on haematological indices and serum protein. Afri. J. Sci. 6: 1304-1309.
[21] Nnam, N.M. (2005). Baobab fruit pulp (AdansoniadigitataL.) improve iron status of Nigerian children. A paper presented at the XXII International Nutrition Anaemia Consultative Group symposium held from 15-17th Nov., 2004 at Lima Peru: In report of the 2004 International Nutritional Anaemia Consultation Group symposium. Iron deficiency in early life: Challenge and progress. Pg 74.
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    Onoja, I. U., Nnam N. N. (2014). Evaluation of Beta-Carotene, Iron and other Micronutrient Status of Rats Fed Sun or Shade-Dried Fluted Pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis) Leaves and its Product, the Leaf Curd. Science Journal of Public Health, 2(5), 454-460. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140205.22

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    Onoja; I. U.; Nnam N. N. Evaluation of Beta-Carotene, Iron and other Micronutrient Status of Rats Fed Sun or Shade-Dried Fluted Pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis) Leaves and its Product, the Leaf Curd. Sci. J. Public Health 2014, 2(5), 454-460. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20140205.22

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    AMA Style

    Onoja, I. U., Nnam N. N. Evaluation of Beta-Carotene, Iron and other Micronutrient Status of Rats Fed Sun or Shade-Dried Fluted Pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis) Leaves and its Product, the Leaf Curd. Sci J Public Health. 2014;2(5):454-460. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20140205.22

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20140205.22,
      author = {Onoja and I. U. and Nnam N. N.},
      title = {Evaluation of Beta-Carotene, Iron and other Micronutrient Status of Rats Fed Sun or Shade-Dried Fluted Pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis) Leaves and its Product, the Leaf Curd},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {2},
      number = {5},
      pages = {454-460},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20140205.22},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140205.22},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20140205.22},
      abstract = {The effects of differently processed leaves and the curd of fluted pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis)on beta carotene, iron, ascorbate, zinc, copper and calcium status of rats were evaluated. Fluted pumpkin leaf was divided into four (4) portions. One was shade-dried, another was sun-dried and the other was used to produce leaf curd. The last portion was not processed and served as the control. All the processed samples were milled to fine flour andeach of the pumpkin leaf flour was incorporated into rat chow for a 28-day study period. Twenty (20) male weanling rats were divided into four (4) groups of five (5) rats each. They were housed in individual metabolism cages and fed diets and water ad libitum. Blood samples were drawn before and after the experiment by ocular puncture and were used for biochemical analysis. Blood plasma was used to determine haemoglobin while serum was used to determine pro- vitamin A, ascorbate, ferritin, iron, copper, zinc and calcium. The liver was individually removed and analysed for liver ferritin, ascorbate and other micronutrients. The results showed that the rats fed rat chow supplemented with dried leaf curd had higher serum beta carotene, ascorbate, and ferritin than those of the other groups. The rats fed rat chow supplemented with shade dried-fluted pumpkin leaf had higher (p<0.05) haemoglobin level, liver beta-carotene and ascorbate than the other groups. The result showed that processing fluted pumpkin leaf into leaf curd improved serum beta-carotene, serum and liver ascorbate, serum ferritin and liver iron of rats more than other processing methods.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    T1  - Evaluation of Beta-Carotene, Iron and other Micronutrient Status of Rats Fed Sun or Shade-Dried Fluted Pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis) Leaves and its Product, the Leaf Curd
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    AU  - Nnam N. N.
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.20140205.22
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140205.22
    AB  - The effects of differently processed leaves and the curd of fluted pumpkin (Telfariaoccidentalis)on beta carotene, iron, ascorbate, zinc, copper and calcium status of rats were evaluated. Fluted pumpkin leaf was divided into four (4) portions. One was shade-dried, another was sun-dried and the other was used to produce leaf curd. The last portion was not processed and served as the control. All the processed samples were milled to fine flour andeach of the pumpkin leaf flour was incorporated into rat chow for a 28-day study period. Twenty (20) male weanling rats were divided into four (4) groups of five (5) rats each. They were housed in individual metabolism cages and fed diets and water ad libitum. Blood samples were drawn before and after the experiment by ocular puncture and were used for biochemical analysis. Blood plasma was used to determine haemoglobin while serum was used to determine pro- vitamin A, ascorbate, ferritin, iron, copper, zinc and calcium. The liver was individually removed and analysed for liver ferritin, ascorbate and other micronutrients. The results showed that the rats fed rat chow supplemented with dried leaf curd had higher serum beta carotene, ascorbate, and ferritin than those of the other groups. The rats fed rat chow supplemented with shade dried-fluted pumpkin leaf had higher (p<0.05) haemoglobin level, liver beta-carotene and ascorbate than the other groups. The result showed that processing fluted pumpkin leaf into leaf curd improved serum beta-carotene, serum and liver ascorbate, serum ferritin and liver iron of rats more than other processing methods.
    VL  - 2
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Home Science, Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

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