Effect of Storage Method on Nutrients Composition, Antioxidant Content and Consumer Acceptability of <em>Corchorus Olitorius</em>

Abstract

Corchorus olitorious is a vegetable that is popularly consumed in West Africa. It is also known to be rich in nutrients. The effects of market storage methods of vegetables on nutrient composition, antioxidant contents and consumer acceptability of Corchorus olitorious were assessed at Owo, Ondo state, Southwest Nigeria. The vegetable was displayed inside a plastic basin and at 6 pm were sprinkled with water, placed inside polypropylene bag and left outside at room temperature of 27±1^oC. This process was carried out for 4 days. The colour and the taste of the vegetable (fresh and stored) were not significantly different (p>0.05) during the first two days of storage. Overall acceptability of Corchorus olitorius stored for four days by the panellist, ranked significantly (p<0.05) very low, while there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the fresh Corchorus olitorius and those stored for two days. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference in the nutrient composition of Corchorus olitorius in the first two days of storage but reduced significantly (p<0.05) at the end of the four days storage period. The vitamin content significantly reduced (p<0.05) at the end of the storage period with a percentage loss of 42.82%. The vegetable had 3.439 mgGAE/100g total phenol and reduced in storage but not significant (p>0.05). Corchorus olitorius had a scavenging ability of <90%, which decreased significantly (p>0.05) as the storage period increased. These results show that based on the storage method available to the market women in the study area, Corchorus olitorius vegetable should be sold within the first two days of harvesting.

Keywords: Corchorus olitorius, leafy vegetable, vitamin C, antioxidant, total phenol