The present study was aimed at evaluating mineral contents, B-vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6), vitamin C, total carotenoids content and carotene composition of unconventional vegetables, comprising 7 leafy and 4 non-leafy, growing in Bangladesh. Investigated unconventional vegetables were found to have varied amount of minerals (0.04 ± 0.01 to 786.41 ± 6.37 mg/100 g), B-vitamins (0.06 ± 0.01 to 1.05 ± 0.13 mg/100 g) and vitamin C (5.23 ± 0.81 to 59.01 ± 2.23 mg/100 g). The study findings also revealed that the selected plant samples exhibited diverse amount of β-carotene ranging from 106.26 ± 5.32 µg/100 g EP in Orhor dal to 994.81 ± 21.01 µg/100 g EP in Orhor Pata whereas lutein content ranged from 7.76 ± 1.02 µg/100 g EP in Pahari Kolar Thor to 566.33 ± 20.63 µg/100 g EP in Kachuripana. It can be suggested that regular intake of these vegetables may contribute to daily minerals and vitamins requirement and can combat micronutrient deficiency.
Keywords: Vegetables of Bangladesh; carotenoids; minerals; unconventional vegetables; vitamins.