Polyphenol contents of ten most widely cultivated and consumed vegetables in Ethiopia

Vegetables are the fresh and edible portions of herbaceous plants. Vegetables have been used as a source of food due to their abundant bioactive chemical contents. This study was aimed to determine phenolics contents of ten most widely consumed vegetables (beetroot, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, chili, eggplant, lettuce, potato, Swiss chard, and tomato) by UV-Visible spectrophotometry. The highest level of bound phenolics was found in cabbage (401 mg GAE/100 g) whereas the lowest level was found in tomato (92 mg GAE/100 g). Higher total phenolic contents were found in the extracts of cabbage (3171 mg GAE/100 g), chili (2006 mg GAE/100 g), Swiss chard (1313 mg GAE/100 g), lettuce (1160 mg GAE/100 g), eggplant (1143.2 mg GAE/100 g) and cauliflower (1086 mg of GAE/100 g). While potato had the lowest total polyphenol contents (217.5 mg GAE/100 g) among the studied vegetables. Presence of substantial amounts of total phenolics in vegetables is responsible for their effective antioxidant potency. Therefore, there is a high potential for the use of vegetables as a health promoting and disease preventing source. KEY WORDS: Vegetables, Polyphenols, Gallic acid, Ethiopia Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2025, 39(6), 1029-1041. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v39i6.1