PROXIMATE MINERAL AND ANTI-NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION OF SODIUM APPLE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1 Background of the study
Apple has being part of human diet and food supplement over the years. It’s considered as healthy food supplements because they contain high quantity of water, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals such as Ca, Mg, Na, K, Zn and Fe (Wenkam, 2015) and organic compounds which are required in small amounts, to make the body function properly (Wills, 2013). Apple is almost 100 percent sodium-free with about only 1 mg of sodium. Studies on metals have revealed their function in plants and animals which includes their role in osmotic regulations of the body fluids enhances growth, ensure healthy crops and animals, and act as coenzyme and information of chlorophyll. Besides their dietary importance, they are also useful as nutrient supplements and recommended internationally as superior to processed foods. The rise in nutritional importance of apple has been stimulated by a range of degenerative diseases prevalent in many part of the world (Wenkam, 2015)
However, besides the nutritional advantages of apple, it also contains certain anti-nutritional factors (Ewaidah, 2013) such as phytins, tannins and oxalates. Phytic acid is an anti-nutritional found in plant foods which has the ability to chelate divalent elements like calcium (Oberleas, 2012) thus decreasing the bio-availability. Tannins exhibit anti-nutritional potentials by precipitating dietary proteins and digestive enzymes to form complexes that are not readily digestible (Aletor, 2013) which could lead to poor weight gain and lower protein efficiency ratio (Glick and Joslyn, 2010). Oxalic acid is corrosive to tissues, when ingested; it removes calcium from the blood in the form of calcium oxalate, thereby causing kidney damage. Lecitins and Saponin substances can combine with essential proteins in the intestinal tract (Jose, 2009) reducing their absorption. Presence of lecitins in diet can lead to reduced growth in man by interfering with the digestion and absorption of nutrients in the Gastrointestinal Tract (Aletor, 2013).
