Use of kitchen steel wool as oxygen absorber improves storage retention of beta-carotene in solar-dried vegetables

Authors

  • Hudson Nyambaka Kenyatta University, Department of Chemistry, P.O Box 43844 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
  • James Nderitu Kenyatta University, Department of Chemistry, P.O Box 43844 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Mildred Nawiri Kenyatta University, Department of Chemistry, P.O Box 43844 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Jane Murungi Kenyatta University, Department of Chemistry, P.O Box 43844 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13171/mjc.1.6.2012.26.07.21

Abstract

 Vitamin A deficiency remains a major health concern in developing countries whereas the season availability of vegetables could provide for vitamin A. Dehydration is widely used to preserve dark green leafy vegetables (DGLV) but storage in normal atmosphere condition losses beta-carotene by oxidation, therefore requiring use of an oxygen absorber. The study examined use of kitchen steel wool as an oxygen absorber in reducing the loss of beta-carotene content in three indigenous DGLVs that were solar dried and stored for a period of 168 days in four different packing conditions. Fresh vegetables contained between 781.94 to 1047.42 μg/g dry matter (DM) beta-carotene, reducing significantly (p=0.01) to between 653.63 to 712.99 μg/g DM after dehydration. Steel wool oxygen absorber significantly improved (p = 0.02) beta-carotene retention, recording a loss of 19.5 to 37.6% compared to 47 to 72% in normal conditions. Storage of DGLVs under kitchen steel wool oxygen absorber preserves vegetables and retains high levels of beta-carotene.

References

E.J. Johnson, Journal of Nutrition in clinical care, 2002, 5, 56-65.

FAO/WHO, International Conference on Nutrition, Geneva, Switzerland, 1992.

E.A. Yetley, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007, 85,269S-276S.

C.A. Mulholland, D.J. Benford, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007, 85, (1), 318S-322S.

G. Codija, Sight and Life Newsletter, 2001, 4, 18.

R.M. Munene, H.S. Adala, F.S. Rana, East African Medical Journal, 2003, 80, 476-479.

S. Veda, A. Kamath, K.Platel, K.K. Begum, Srinivasan, Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, 2006, 50, 1047-52.

O. M. Funke, Food and Nutrition Sciences, 2011, 2, 249-252S.J. Schwartz, J. Food Sc. and Tech. 2001, 25, 1.

H. Nyambaka, J. Ryley, Journal of Food Chemistry, 1996, 55, 63-72.

Y.H. Hui, Encyclopedia of Food Science and Technology, Vol. 1, John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, pp 293-308, 1992.

C. Emenhiser, R.H. Watkins, N. Bulux, J. Barrows, S.J. Schwartz, Journal of Food Quality, 1999, 22, 63-73.

T.A Kennedy, D.C. Liebler, Chemical Research in Toxicology, 1991, 4, 290-295.

L. Vermeiren, F. Devlieghere, M. van Beest, N. de Kruijf, J. Debevere, Trends in Food Science & Technology, 1999, 10, 77-86.

P. Appendini, J.H. Hotchkiss, Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies. 2002, 3, 113-126.

S. Mangaraj, T.K. Goswami, P.V. Mahajan, Food Engineering Reviews, 2009, 1, 133-158.

A. Yoshiuki, Oxygen absorbers: Is it the answer to shelf life problems? Special Feature in Shelf Life Technology, Asia Pacific Food Industry, 1991.

J. López-Cervantes, D.I. Sánchez-Machado, S. Pastorelli, R. Rijk, P. Paseiro-Losada, Food Additive Contaminants Journal, 2003, 20, 291-9.

X.A. Ramoneda, P.A. Ponce-Cevallos, M.del P. Buera, B.E. Elizalde, J. Sci Food Agric, 2011, 91, 2587-93

R. Marcrae, R.K Robinson, M.J. Sadler, Encyclopedia of Food Science Technology and Nutrition, Vol. 1, Academic Press, USA, 1993.

T.C. Mosha, R.D. Pace, S. Adeyeye, H.S. Laswai, K. Mtebe, Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 1997, 50 (3): 189-201.

D. Dutta, A. Dutta., U. Raychaudhuri. R. Chakraborty, J. Food Eng. 76, 2006: 538–546.

L.K. Henry, G.L. Catignani, and S.J. Schwartz, JAOCS, 1998, 75, 823-829.

A.Bechoff, C. Dhuique-Mayer, M. Dormier, K.I. Tomlins, R. Brulanger, D. Dufour, A. Westby, Food Chemistry, 2010, 121, 348-357.

E. Larsen, L.P. Christensen, J Agric and Food Chem, 2005, 53, 6598-6602.

Downloads

Published

2012-07-26

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 6 (2012)

Section

Food Chemistry

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal
    2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal
    3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).