Nutrient composition and sensory evaluation of selected Nigeria’s traditional Soups.

Abstract

Some Nigerian indigenous soups were prepared and evaluated chemically for their nutritive composition and organoleptically for acceptability. Chemically, ‘Edikang-ikong’ soup had the highest protein content of 14.34g/100g, iron content of 6.30mg/100g and potassium content of 710mg/100g, while bitter leaf soup (Onugbu) commonly consumed by the Igbo speaking Nigerians followed closely with protein content of 9.60g/100g, phosphorous of 770mg/100g and calcium of 320mg/100g. ‘Nsala soup’ ranked pari-passu Onugbu soup with protein content of 9.23g/100g, lowest fat content of 2.29g/100g, phosphorous of 800mg/100g and calcium of 290 mg. ‘Egusi’ soup (with ugu vegetable) consumed by all and sundry within the country had the highest calorific value of 168.80 Kcal/100g, fat content of 9.36g/100g, protein content of 6.44g/100g and ranked next to ‘Edikang-ikong’ in iron content(3.00mg/100g). All the soups had adequate levels of mineral contents except bitter leaf soup (Oriwo), which recorded highest calcium content of 470mg/100g compared to soups but, lower than RDI. Sensory evaluation results indicated acceptability of all the traditional soups. However, significant difference (P < 0.05) exists between the soups in colour/appearance, taste, mouthfeel, flavour, aroma, consistency and overall acceptability. All the traditional soup samples, except ‘oriwo’ soup had significantly high ratings for all the quality attributes analysed. Nevertheless, ‘Egusi’ soup was the most acceptable of all the soups.