2019 ASHS Annual Conference

The importance of the underutilized vegetables of southwest Nigeria for their nutritional and therapeutic ventures is rapidly increasing. Ten of the vegetables : Solanum macrocarpon (Igbagba), Amaranthus viridis (Tete atetedaye), Crassocephalum crepidoides (Ebolo), Solanum nigrum (Odu) , Solanum Spp. (Ogunmo), Solanecio biafrae (Woorowo), Vernonia amygdalina (Bitter leaf), Telfairia occidentalis (Ugwu), Curcubita pepo (Elegede) and Trichosanthes cucumerina (Tomato Elejo) were examined for there for growth, pest infestation, nutrient and biochemical qualities.

An experiment was established at the Teaching and Research Farm, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria in 2012.Soil physical and chemical properties were analyzed. Organic fertilizer and urea were applied at 40 kg N ha^-1 each to supply a total of 80 kg N ha^-1. Pests’ infestation on the vegetables were recorded. The nutrient and biochemical compositions of the vegetables were evaluated. The medicinal uses of the vegetables by people were documented.

The result showed that the nutrient composition of the vegetables for calcium ranged from 377-3312 mg kg^-1, magnesium from 1297-4652 mg kg^-1, Iron from 198-912 mg kg^-1, zinc from 53-152 mg kg^-1 and copper from 4.7-30.1 mg kg^-1, the total carotenoids ranges from 22.4-46.2 mg/100g DM, phenolics from 38-66 GAE/100g DM, Tannins from 49-60 mg/100g DM, Flavonoids from 40-66 CE eq./100g and phytate from 2-4.2 mg/100 DM.

It was concluded that Curcubita pepo was more drought tolerant and most attacked by pests, with the highest value for iron and zinc. Trichosanthes cucumerina had the highest values for all the biochemical properties, except the phytate. Due to the effectiveness of the vegetables for treating different ailments and diseases, there is the need to intensive its production and consumption and at the same time develop standard methods for validating some of the medicinal claims.