Determination Of Levels Of Some Vitamins In Amaranthus Hypochondriacus And Amaranthus Cruenthus Leaves And Grains From Selected Areas Of Kenya

Vitamin deficiencies are health hazards in some parts of Kenya. These are attributed to inadequate access to vitamin-rich foods occasioned by decline in agricultural production due to unfavourable climatic conditions, low purchasing power due to poverty, over reliance on staple foods and dependence on highly refined foods, which are poor in vitamins. Higher intake of vitamin-rich vegetables and grains can alleviate this problem. Grain amaranth (GA), which is relatively a new crop in Kenya, is a dual crop whose seeds are used as grains and leaves as a vegetable. It has been found to have high nutritional and medicinal values, which could combat life-threatening diseases such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, liver diseases and haemorrhage. However, it is still an underutilized crop. As a leafy vegetable, itcan be harvested at different maturity stages of growth, but data on the changes in leaf nutritional value with plant age are scanty. The objective of this study was to determine the levels of β-carotene, thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxine, ascorbic acid (AA) and α-tocopherol in Amaranthus hypochondriacus (L-) and Amaranthus cruentus (L-) leaves at different ages of growth and their grains grown in different regions of Kenya in wet and dry seasons using high-performance liquid chromatography, spectrophotometric and titrimetric methods. The study areas were Kenyatta University, Bureti, Mt. Elgon, Kisii, Bondo, Meru and Embu districts. The mean vitamin levels (mg/100 g DW) in amaranth leaves were: β-carotene (35.985-49.797), α-tocopherol (29.494-34.779), thiamin (0.573-0.714), riboflavin (2.311-2.755), pyridoxine (2.581-2.921) and AA (440.077-619.210). The mean vitamin contents of leaves were significantly different between the species (P