Title Evaluation of the Nutrient and Organoleptic Properties of Pulverized Baobab Leaf ( Adansonia Digitata L . ) Soup

The siudy examined ihe nuirieni composiiion, viscosity and accepiahility of pulverized baobab leaf soup among graduaie siudenis porn University ofNigeria, Nsukka. Pulverized baobab leaves and ogbono seed jlour were analyzed chemically and used lo prepare separate soups. The ogbono seed flour sotip served (1s the conirol, The soups were organolepiically and chemically evaluaied using standard methods. The pulverized baobab leaves and iis soup coniained more (p<0.05) carbohydrate, fiber; ush, calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), ascorbate and viiamin A as retinol eyuivaleni ihun ihe oghono seed flour and iis soup. The pulverized baobab soup had 4.36% proiein, 22.62% curhohydraie, 88.61 mg Ca, 102.27 mg P and 43.80 pg proviiamin A. The slurries from /he two soup ingredienis had similw viscosiiies. The pulverized baobab leaf soup was accepted by the judges. However /hey preferred /he ogbono seed .flour soup probably because, they are familiar with ii. The pulverized baobab leaf soup should be popularized because of its rich nuirieni potentials.


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INTRODUCTION
Green leafy vegetables are good sources of micronutrients particularly ascorbate and vitamin A (FAO, 1997;Rajyalakshmi, 2001).
There are a lot of leafy vegetables in Nigeria ecosystem which could provide adequate quantities of micronutrients in the diet if they are properly processed and utilized.In spite of this, Nigerians still suffer from micronutrient deficiencies (NDHS, 1990, OMNI andUSAID, 1993).This is partly because of a lack of knowledge on the processing, nutrient composition and utilization of inany and varied leafy vegetables indigenous to Nigeria.Baobab (Adansoniu digiiair~ L.) leaf is one of such vegetables.Baobab leaves, fruits and seeds are used as articles of food in the northern states of Nigeria where it grows extensively.However they are not consumed in the southern states.Baobab plant is a deciduous tree and a member of the family Bombaceae.
Flowers, fruits and leaves develop in the tree during the rainy season.
The leaves fall and the fruits mature in the dry season.The tree may live for hundreds of years.The baobab tree grows extensively in semi-arid Africa, from Senegal east to Kenya, and throughout southern Africa and Madagascar.As the baobab has many uses, young trees are kept alive and encouraged to grow in and around village sites (Scheuring et al., 1999).
The leaf of the baobab tree has rich nutrient potentials.FA0 (1990) reported its protein value as 12.3%, 3.1% fiber, 9.6% ash, 11.8% moisture; 221mg calcium, 24mg iron, 275 mg phosphorus and traces of ascorbate.The leaf has been identified as a rich source:.o.f beta-carotene, the precausor of vitamin A (1 56.5 p glg) (Scheuring el al., 1999).The baobab leaf would be useful in providing macro and micronutrients to the diets of people, who consume it.The leaf is used as a vegetable in soups either in fresh, dried or powdered form.The powder, known as kuka in northern Nigeria is used to thicken soups  (Addy, 1978).This is br :ruse the pulverized baobab leaf has a high i ~cilage content like Irvingia gobonensis seed I AO, 1988).The soup appears promising as a good source of nutrients.Its use could be extended from nofiern Nigeria to southern states to diversity the diet, change food habit and increase nutrient intake of the populace.This is particularly important in the dietary diversification approach to combating malnutrition.However, there is a need to establish information on the nutrient composition of the soup and its acceptability among consumers from the southern states.This will provide base line data for popularizing the soup in the areas where it is not consumed in Nigeria.The objective of the study was to determine the nutrient composition, viscosity and acceptability of pulverized baobab leaf soup among consumers from the southern states of Nigeria.
ogbono seed flour soup served as the control for evaluating the baobab leaf soup.This is because ngbono seed flour and pulverized leaf are used as soup thickeners because they have high mucilage content (FAO, 1988).OgBono soup is also popular in Nigeria (Bennuah,1 994).

Preparation of soups
Pulverized baobab leaf soup and ogbono soup were prepared separately.Ninety grammes of onions, 14.5g of maggi cubes and 14.5g of table salt were added to 6253 of meat and 125g of stockfish.1.5L (1500niI) of water was added to each of the mixture, the mixtures were allowed to boil separately in a thermostatically controlled water bath (Tlierniostirrer 95 Gallenkamp, England) set at 7S°C for 15 min.Either 50g of pulverized baobab leaves or 50g of ogbono seed flour were stirred into the

Sensory evaluation of the soups
Organoleptic evaluation of the soups was carried out using a one-hundred consumer judges drawn from the University of Nigeria Graduate Student's Association.Only the students from the southern states of Nigeria were selected through random sampling.This is because the baobab soup is not commonly consumed in southern states.They evaluated the acceptability of.thesoups using the indices of flavour, appearance and consistency.A 9point hedonic scale from 1 "dislike extremely" to 9 "like extremely" was used to evaluate the soups (Watts et nl., 1989).The students were divided into four groups of twenty five each.
Morning and afternoon evaluation sessions were organized for two days.Each group of students participated in one of the evaluation sessions.The pulverized baobab leaf soup and the ogbono seed flour soup (the control) were coded and presented to the judges in snlall transparent soup bowels.Clean water was provided to the judges to rinse their mouth inbetween testing of the soups to avoid carry over effect.The evaluation was conducted in the food research laboratoiy of the Department of Home Science and Nutrition, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.The laborato~y was clean and free from distractions.Fluorescent lights provided uniform illumination and the judges were positioned independent of each other.An evaluation form with codes as in the soup sanlple was given to each judge to record his or her observations.

Preparation of samples for chemical analysis
Pulverized baobab leaf soup and ogbono seed flour soup were prepared separately as described earlier.However, meat fish and stockfish were omitted during the preparation of the soups.This was because the ingredients are very rich in some nutrients and their inclusion might lead to overestimation of the nutrient composition of the soups.A sample of each of ,the soups was homogenized in a Moulinex blender.

Chemical analysis
The homogenized soups, the pulverized baobab leaves and the ogbono seed flour used in the preparation of the soups were analyzed for proximate, mineral and ascorbate composition according to the standard assay methods of AOAC (1995).Provitamin A was determined using the method adopted from IVACG (1982).The vitamin A activity, as retinol equivalents (RE) was calculated based on the in vivo conversion factor given by WHO (1 982).

Viscosity determination
Twenty five grams of pulverized baobab leaves and ogbono seed flour were separately dissolved in 300ml of cold deionized water to make slurry.The respective slurries were separately heated in a thermostatically controlled water bath set at 75OC for 10min.
The slurries were allowed to cool to 40°C. he viscosities of the slurries were determined using the Universal Torsion Viscometer, VHA-200-M, Gallenkamp, England.

Statistical analysis
The results obtained from the chemical and the sensory evaluations were statistically analysed.
The means and standard deviations were calculated.A two-tailed student T-test was used to determine differences between the means at 5% (p<0.05) level of significance (Obi, 1986).The higher ascorbate, provitamin A and n~ineral levels of the pulverized baobab leaves than the oghono seed flour is in line with literature reports on green leafy vegetables (FAO, 1997; Oguntona, 1998;  Rajyalakshmi r! (11.. 2001).'The reports showed that green leafy vegetables contain appreciable quantities of minerals, ascorbate and provitamin A. The high provitainin A level (89.61 pgRE) of the pulverized baobab leaves is of interest.Use of the leaves should be fully explored in the food based approach as a means to combat vitamin A deficiency in Nigeria.The provitamin A level of the leaves could be pushed up if they are carefully dried under the sun or in a solar drier (Rahman el dl.,  1997, Scheuring ef al., 1999).

Nutrient composition of the soups
The statistical comparison of the nutrient content of pulverized baobab leaf soup and oghono seed flour soup are presented in Table 3.The pulverized baobab leaf soup had higher (pC0.05)carbohydrate, fiber, ash, Ca, P, ascorbate and provitamin A than the oghono seed flour soup.The differences in the nutrient composition of the soups might be attributed to the compositional differences in the parts of the different plants used as base ingredient in the soup preparations.
The oghono seed flour soup however, had higher (pC0.05)fat (19.73%) level than the pulverized baobab leaf soup (1.47%).The higher fat content of the ogbono seed flour soup than the pulverized baobab leaf soup is of interest.This is because the fat consists mainly of the polyunsaturated fatty acids which are desirable in the diet.The ogbono seed flour soup with its high fat content could be of value in providing concentrated source of energy particularly in the diets of infants and young children.This is because it is difficult for a small child to consume enough food to cover his energy requirements.The pulverized baobab leaf soup with higher Ca (80.61 mg), P (1 02.27 mg), ascorbate (I .45mg) and provitamin A (43.80 pgRE) than the oghono seed flour soup could be useful in improving the micronutrient intake of the populace.The viscosities of pulverized baobab leaf and ogbono seed flour slurries are shown in Table 4.The pulverized baobab leaf slurry had slightly higher viscosity than the ogbono seed flour slurry.This confirmed the high mucilage content of the pulverized baobab leaf (FAO, 1988) and showed that the leaf could provide thickening property comparable to that of ogbono seed flour.

Organoleptic properties of the soups
The statistical comparison of the sensory scores of pulverized baobab leaf soup and ogbono seed flour soup are presented in Table 5.There was a significant (p< 0.05) difference between the flavour scores of the two soups.The judges liked the flavour of the pulverized baobab leaf soup slightly and liked that of oghono seed flour moderately.The preference for the flavour of the oghono soup over that of pulverized baobab leaf soup might be due to [he familiarity of the judges with the ogbono soup flavour.The appearance and consistency of the two soups were similar (p>0.05).This was probably because the two soup ingredients (pulverized baobab leaf and ogbono seed flour) had dull colours with similar high mucilage content (FAO, 1988) which translated to a similar thickening capacity and consistency.The acceptability of the two soups differed (PC0.05).The judges liked the pulverized baobab leaf soup slightly.However, they liked the ogbono seed flour soup moderately.Again the preference for the ogbono soup than for the pulverized baobab leaf soup could be attributed to the familiarity of the judges with the flavour of ogbono Loup.Flavour has been identified as the major factor that influences acceptability of foods (Nnam, 1999).The consumption of pulverized baobab leaf soup should be encouraged because $f its rich nutrient composition.

CONCLUSION
The pulverized baobab leaf soup had promising nutrient potentials.The soup is a potentially good source of Ca, P and provitamin A. The viscosities of the pulverized baobab leaf and ogbono seed slurries were similar.The judges liked the pulverized baobab leaf soup slightly.Promotion is required to popularize the pulverized baobab leaf soup in areas where it is m t commonly consumed because of its rich nutrient composition.It is suggested that mothers, especially those from southern Nigeria, should be enlightened through nutrition education and home economics extension programmes on the nutrient potentials of the pulverized baobab leaf soup and how to prepare it.This could help to improve the nutritional status of Nigerian populace.The Nutrition Foundation.NDHS (1990).

I
Cultivars To The Root-Knot Nematode, Meloidogyne Javanica Infections And Their Nodulation Ability In The Soil, R. 0. Ogbuji and T .A. A m l o l a .63-66 I Caeeava Growth And Development In Two Contrasting Environments Of Ibadan And Joe, s. 0. Akparobi, F .0. Tobih, A .0. Togun.J .Ekanayake and S .0. Oyetunjl.67-75 5 Soil Characteristic6 Around Lake Opi In Eaetern Nigeria And Land Use Reccmanen&tions, C. L. A. Asadu, A .U. Ekwo, And T .K. Udlgwe.76-89 I ) Faculty of Agricul ture , Universi t y of Nigeria, Nsukka I , Statistical comparison of the sensory scores of pulverized baobab leaf soup and ogbono seed flour soup.
Dislike extremely oghono seed is an oil seed and stores its h o d energy as fat.
N. M. Nnam and M. G Nwofor viscosities of the pulverized baobab leaf and ogbono seed flour slurries

FA0 ( 1
988).Traditional food plants.Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.FAO, Food and Nutrition Paper 42. Rome.Pp 63 -67.FA0 (1 997).Preventing micronutrient malnutrition; A guide to food-based approaches.A manual for policy makers and program planners.Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and International Life Science Institute, Washington DC.Pp 15 -19.IVACG (1 982).Reprints of selected methods for the analysis of vitamin A and carotenoids in nutrition surveys.Washington DC.

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Table 1 :
Ingredients used in preparation of the soups.

Household measure) Pulverised baobab IeaVOgbono seed flour 506 3 cooking spoons Meat 62Sg 25 pieces Stockfish 125g I small size Dried fish 150g 5 medium size Crayfish 25g I desert spoon Fresh pepper 7.25g 4 pieces Maggi cubes 14.5Og 2 cubes Onions 9% I medium size Salt 14.50g I table spoon Palm oil 1 25g 2 cooking spoons Water 1.51, ( 1500ml) 2 big cups MATERIALS AND METHODS
respective soaps.The stirring of tlie soups continued until the ingredients were state.The ogbono seeds were cleaned and milled into fine flour using a Gallenkamp mixer (Model MPR 201).The ogbono seed flour and the pulverized baobab leaves were from the heater and left on the rack to cool to 40°C (serving temperature).ingredients used in the soups preparation are shown in Table I .used to prepare two separate soups.The Nutrient And Organoleptio Properties Of Pulverized Baobab Leaf (Adamonia digitata L.) Soup

Table 2
ash, calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), copper (Cu), ascorbate and Provitamin A than the oghono seed flour.However, the ogbono seed flour contained more fat than the pulverized baobab leaves.The high fat level of th! ogbono seed flour was not surprising becaux N. M. Nnani and M. G. N w o r o r

Table 2 :
Statistical comparison o f the nutrient composition o f pulverized baobab leaves and ogbo& seed flour (1 OOg, dry weight basis).- Means with similar letters are statistically (p>O.O5) similar while those with different letters are statistically (p<O.OJ) different.PBL -Pulverizcd baobab leaves; OSF -Ogbono seed flour