Abstract
Food based strategy’ is used as a tool for combating micronutrient deficiencies. It is also referred as dietary modification, which encompasses a wide variety of intervention that aim at increasing the production, availability and consumption of food products, which are rich in micronutrients. One such food products are green leafy vegetables. There are many varieties of green leafy vegetables which are though rich in micronutrients, but are usually discarded or are not used for human consumption. One such leaf, a rich source of micronutrients but still under exploited is drumstick leaf (Moringa oleifira). The present study was done with the objective to assess the effect of different methods of drying (sun, shade and oven drying) on the nutritive value of the selected leaf with its fresh counterparts. The results showed significant increase (p < 0.01) in all the nutrients in the dried samples of the leaves making them a concentrated source of nutrients. Shade dried samples had highest nutrient retention followed by sun drying and oven dried samples but the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05).
Key words: Moringa oleifira, dehydration, sun drying, shade drying, oven drying, biochemical analysis.
