Effect of ageing on important minerals and its retention level in Telfaria occidentalis (Ugu) leaves

Abstract

Telfairia occidentalis (Ugu) is a leafy vegetable and vine which is predominant to West Africa. The plant is a dioceous, drought – tolerant,  perennial shrub, that is often grown trellised with its seeds being edible and highly nutritious leaves that are considered high in protein,  fat and minerals. In this experiment, Telfairia occidentalis was grown and maintained in a typical home garden at Oluyole Local  Government Area of Oyo – state, Ibadan and monitored for two seasons, (2019 – 2020 and 2020 – 2021). The leaves were sampled and  harvested in duplicates in each season and taken to the Analytical Laboratory, IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria for the analysis of important food  minerals. The aim was to determine the increases or otherwise in these minerals as the plant ages. The results of the analysis revealed  food mineral values which ranges from 0.39% - 5.31% in 2020 as compared with a range of 0.39% - 6.76% obtained in 2021. Also, the  Nitrogen (N) increased from 5.310 ± 0.044% in 2020 to 6.765 ± 0.010% in 2021. Calcium (Ca) increases drastically overtime from 0.975 ±  0.010% in 2020 to 3.465 ± 0.016% in 2021. The amount of Iron (Fe) reduced over the years from a mean amount of 329.24 ± 0.533 ppm  obtained in 2020 to 193.210 ± 0.509 ppm in 2021. Copper (Cu) also reduced with ageing from 15.52 ± 0.056 ppm in 2020 to 13.050 ± 0.035  ppm in 2021. The amount of Zinc however increased from 53.910 ± 0.045 ppm in 2020 to 112.110 ± 0.077 ppm. The work concluded that  ageing has effect on the changes in the mineral levels in Telfairia occidentalis (Ugu), hence the null hypothesis is rejected by T – test of  comparism at 0.05 level of significance.