Exploration of the nutritional and carotenoids profiles of vegetables in Thai cuisine as potential nutritious ingredients

Uthaiwan Suttisansanee; Parunya Thiyajai; Woorawee Inthachat; Kanchana Pruesapan; Khanitha Wongwathanarat; Somsri Charoenkiatkul; Yuraporn Sahasakul; Piya Temviriyanukul

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15951

Exploration of the nutritional and carotenoids profiles of vegetables in Thai cuisine as potential nutritious ingredients

Heliyon. 2023 Apr 29;9(5):e15951. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15951. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Uthaiwan Suttisansanee¹, Parunya Thiyajai¹, Woorawee Inthachat¹, Kanchana Pruesapan², Khanitha Wongwathanarat³, Somsri Charoenkiatkul¹, Yuraporn Sahasakul¹, Piya Temviriyanukul¹

Affiliations

¹ Food and Nutrition Academic and Research Cluster, Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University, Salaya, Phuttamonthon, Nakhon Pathom 73170, Thailand.
² Plant Varieties Protection Division, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
³ Biotechnology Research and Development Office, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.

Abstract

Missing information on plant origin control and nutritional data on herbs, spices and vegetables could lead to sample quality deficit and misusage of the plant database. In this study, twenty vegetables that were collected and managed based on the recommendations of the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand, were investigated regarding their proximate mineral, vitamin and carotenoid contents using the standard procedures of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). The results showed that these plants (100 g dry weight) exhibited similar energy levels (337.11-420.48 kcal), which were mainly distributed from high carbohydrate content (21.01-88.17 g), while protein (3.14-66.07 g) and fat (0.00-10.33 g) levels were quite low. As a form of carbohydrate, dietary fiber was found to be high in Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf (Cy. citratus) and Solanum torvum Sw. (So. torvum) (57.00-59.54 g). Interestingly, Senegalia pennata subsp. insuavis (Lace) Maslin, Seigler & Ebinger (S. pennata) exhibited exceptionally high protein content, which was between 2.3 and 3.1 times higher than its carbohydrates. High mineral contents were detected in S. pennata, Ocimum africanum Lour. (O. africanum), Ocimum basilicum L. (O. basilicum), Ocimum gratissimum L. var. macrophyllum Briq. (O. gratissimum) and Coriandrum sativum L. (Co. sativum), while Mentha cordifolia Opiz ex Fresen (M. cordifolia) was observed to be a good source of vitamin C (381.36-547.47 mg). High carotenoids were mostly found in Eryngium foetidum L. (E. foetidum), O. gratissimum, Co. sativum and O. basilicum (75.23-119.96 mg). Interestingly, the location of sample collection seemed to have minimal effect on the nutritional and carotenoid compositions. The results of this study provide reliable information concerning the nutritional and carotenoid contents in plant sources with control of origin, which could be used in the future for food development with specific nutritional requirements.

Keywords: Food composition; Food ingredients; Food security; Herbs; Minerals; Proximate analysis; Vegetables.