Nutritional Analysis of Some Locally Available Fruits and Vegetables in Chattogram, Bangladesh

Fruits and vegetables are very important for daily diet as they are enriched with carbohydrate, protein, fiber and micronutrients. The present study was carried out to estimate the nutrient content of some locally available fruits and vegetables in raw state. The specimens of this study were the fruit of Averrhoa bilimbi, tender stem of Costus speciosus, fruit coat of Hibiscus subdariffia, inflorescence (spike) of Musa sp. & inner part of pseudostem of Musa sp. which are the edible part consumed by the local people. These fruits and vegetables were investigated to determine their nutritive values which include moisture, ash, protein, fat, carbohydrate, crude fiber, vitamin C & calorie content. Three samples such as C. speciosus, Inflorescence (stem) of Musa sp. and pseudostem of Musa sp. were analyzed for several minerals namely K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe and Zn. The collected specimens were also identified by observation. A. bilimbi was found to contain 94.2 gm% moisture, 33 gm% ash, 2.62 gm% protein, 0.71 gm% fat, 0.7 gm% crude fiber, 1.62 gm% carbohydrate, 20.16 mg vitamin C with 23.35 Kcal of energy. H. sabdariffa contained 92.33 gm% moisture, 0.62 gm% ash, 0.15 gm% protein, 0.7 gm% carbohydrate, 43.75 mg vitamin C with 29.7 Kcal of energy. C. speciosus contained 92.3 gm% moisture, 1.4 gm% ash, 28 gm% protein. 0.2 gm% fat, 0.21 gm% crude fiber, 3.09 gm% carbohydrate, 3 mg vitamin C with 25.36 Kcal of energy. C. speciosus was found to contain 84 mg K, 52 mg Ca, 72 mg Mg, 0.08 mg Cu, 2.3 mg Fe and 0.4 mg Zn. Inflorescence (spike) of Musa sp. contained 85 gm% moisture, 1.4 gm% ash, 2.1 gm% protein, 1 gm% fat, 0.03 gm% fiber. 10.5 gm% carbohydrate, 2 mg vitamin C with 59.4 Kcal of energy. It was found to contain 61 mg K, 28 mg Ca, 38 mg Mg, 0.07 mg Cu, 1.6 mg Fe and 1.8 mg Zn. Pseudostem of Musa sp. contained 94 gm% moisture, 0.4 gm ash, 0.9 gm% protein, 0.1 gm% ash, 0.42% fiber, 4 gm% carbohydrate, 1 mg vitamin C with 29.5 Kcal of energy. It was found to contain 93 mg K, 10 mg Ca, 19 mg Mg, 0.2 mg Cu, 1.3 mg Fe and 0.9 mg Zn. So these plants might be introduced all over the country to meet the nutritional demand as they contain a significant amount of nutrients.