Nutritional composition and antioxidant capacity of twelve varieties of fresh immature Okra fruits (Abelmoschus esculentus L.)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the nutrients content and antioxidant capacity of fresh immature fruits of twelve varieties from Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.).Protein and utilizable carbohydrate contents were evaluated by the method of Gornall (1949) and Dubois (1956), respectively. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to determine the quantities of minerals present in the samples. The antioxidant activity was measured using FRAP test. The highest protein content is observed in the variety V3 (36.055±0.017g/100g).That in utilizable carbohydrate is observed in the variety V19 (9.2418 ± 0.014 g/ 100g).The zinc, iron and copper contents are relatively low. Varieties V19 (60mg/kg),V52(40mg/kg)andV42(14mg/kg)showed the high contents of zinc, iron and copper, respectively. Evaluation of antioxidant activity in vitro of the extracts, from the different varieties of okra, by the reduction’s method of the ferric ion (FRAP), showed interesting activities. The highest ferric ion reduction capacity was observed with the V42 variety (62.93mmolEAA/g).All the results obtained revealed that immature fruits of okra’s varieties V5, V16, V52 and V42 presented the higher nutritional and antioxidant potentials among all the varieties and could thus be recommended to children, women and older people for their diet.