Abstract

Vegetable is a vital component of human diet that should be eaten all year round, but they are scarce during dry season in Anyigba community in Kogi State, Nigeria. Available dry season vegetables such as the leaves of Manihot esculentum(Cassava), Piper guineese (Oziza), Chromolena odorata (Akintola), Solanum melanogaster (Garden egg) and Voandzeia subteranea (Babara-nut), are either not accepted as conventional vegetable or they are classified as non edible leaves from neighboring States. This study compared the nutrient content of these vegetables with that of Telfaria occidendalis (Ugwu). The result of the sensory evaluation carried out showed that T.  occidendalis had sensory evaluation mean value of 6.28, which was statistically significantly different (P = 0.001) when compared with the mean value of S. melanogaster (5.64). The highest mean value from the sensory evaluation was recorded in C. odorata (6.44). However, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the mean values of the sensory evaluation of M. esculentum, P. guineese, C. odorata and V. subteranea (6.02, 6.22, 6.44 and 6.10 mean values respectively) when compared with that of T. occidentalis (6.28). In the proximate chemical analyses, it was observed that M. esculentum and C. odorata contained higher protein (29.30 and 32.40%, respectively), than T. occidentalis (13.33%). Also, the Carbohydrate content of P. guineese and V. subteranea (77.17 and 89.42% respectively) was higher than that of T. occidendalis (63.64%). M. esculentum, C. odorata, P. guineese and V. subteranea are recommended as edible vegetables.

Key words: Sensory evaluation, dry season vegetable, available, Anyigba, Nigeria.