Abstract

Survey research design was used in the study of 900 adults from 9 senatorial zones of South Eastern Nigeria that aimed at using the correlation coefficient matrix to evaluate the synergic effect of various plant food diet of South Eastern Nigeria to meet the vegetable consumption requirement of the people. Twenty four hour food recall was conducted using questionnaire while the quantity of vegetable consumed by the individuals were estimated. The correlation coefficient matrix of the diet with vegetables were calculated, the result show that garri, pounded yam and cassava fufu co-relate high with vegetables like bitter leave, ugu and ora (0.82 to 0.86), while food items like yam and rice co-relate poorly with these vegetables (0.24 to 0.12), though yam and rice co-relate high with other vegetables like green amalant and nchuonwu (0.72 to 0.63). Vegetable is incorporated in many plant food items of South Eastern Nigeria diet, yet there is still more room for improvement. It was then recommended that proper planning of meals considering synergistic effect from this incorporation will help in meeting the vegetable needs of the people. The correlation matrix can be of great help to meal planner.

Key words: Synergic effect, diet, vegetable consumption, plant food.