ABSTRACT

Traditional foods either home-made foods or out-of-home foods purchased from local food outlets, still contribute to people’s usual diet. This study seeks to determine the variation in macro-nutrient composition and nutrient density of analyzed and calculated values of selected traditional dishes commonly consumed in Umuahia, Abia State. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey method for food/recipe documentation and experimental design to evaluate and assess variation in macro-nutrient composition and nutrient density of analyzed values of selected traditional dishes commonly consumed in Umuahia, Abia State. The recipe ingredients used in the preparation of the three (3) selected traditional soups (Uha soup, Achara soup and Okro soup) in this study was purchased from Ahiaeke roadside market in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria. The energy density of the analyzed food was determined by obtaining the ratio of the amount of energy in the diet to the quantity of the same dish. Data from the study which included the proximate composition as analyzed soups was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Statistic Product for Service Solution (SPSS) (Version 23). Mean values obtained was separated using Duncan multiple range test while significance where exist was judged at 95% confidence level (p<0.05). Findings showed that the moisture content of the soups were significantly different (P<0.05), with the content ranging from 70.72% – 75.07. The moisture content of the achara soup (75.07%) was significantly higher than the contents in the three soups while the moisture content of the okro soup (70.72%) was the least compared with the other soups. The protein content of the soups were significantly different P<0.05, ranging from 9.67-10.72, with the contents in okro soup (10.72 mg/100g) significantly higher while the achara soup (9.67 mg/100g) recorded the least score for crude protein content of the three soups. The carbohydrate content of the soups were significantly different (P<0.05), ranging from 4.03-9.90, with the carbohydrate contents of the okro soups (9.90 mg/100g) significantly higher than the rest of the soups while carbohydrate contents of the uha soup recorded the least of the three soup samples. The calcium content of the soups were significantly different, ranging from 62.86-86.57, with the calcium contents 86.57 mg/100g of the uha soup significantly higher while the okro soup reported the least calcium contents of the three soups. The energy density score of the soups reveal that uha soup had the highest energy density score (1.23 kcal/g) compared to the other soups, achara soup (1.10 kcal/g) and okro soup (1.17 kcal/g). In general the three soup samples had low energy density (score between 0.6-1.5 kcal/g). In this study, it was observed that the soups consumed in Umuahia community had considerable amount of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and carbohydrate but low in fiber, fat, zinc, iron, copper and selenium. However, soups had the least moisture content thus may have higher shelf life than the other soups. This study recommends urgent need for Nigeria to put in place food composition table for local foods especially our local vegetables and local soup thickeners and spices as well as their energy densities.