ANTI-NUTRIENTS, AMINO ACID QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF “NDUDUAGWORAGWO” TRADITIONAL DIET

Abstract

A “nduduagworagwo†is a traditional food of Akokwa people in Imo State, South eastern, Nigeria. Based on the recent linkage of natural foods to health, the anti-nutrients, amino acid quality and performance characteristics of “nduduagworagwo†traditional food was studied. Low levels of cyanogenic glycoside (0.09±0.03mg/100g), phytate (0.04±0.00 mg/100g), and oxalate (0.29±0.05 mg/100g) anti-nutrients were observed in the studied food. Anti-nutrient/nutrient interactions; oxalate/calcium (0.73), phytate/calcium (0.01), and phytate/iron (0.02) in “nduduagworagwo†were lower than their critical values. Essential and non-essential amino acids were also obtained in the food. The chemical scores for observed amino acids compared favourably with those of reference food materials and some other existing traditional foods. The performance characteristics in this study indicated that “nduduagworagwo†could be an intermediate protein food that can enhance the body with good digestibility (96.00± 2.87%) and biological (58.06± 1.04%) values. The present study has revealed the anti-nutrients, amino acid quality, and performance characteristic of “nduduagworagwo†traditional food.