Abstract:
Anchote is a valuable food source and according to local farmers, it helps in fast mending of
broken/ fracture bones and displaced joints, as it contains high calcium, and proteins than other
common and wide spread root and tuber crops. This study was aimed to determine the
nutritional, anti-nutritional and mineral compositions of Anchote (Coccinia abyssinica) tubers
obtained from local markets of Jimma city, Dembi Dollo, Gimbi towns. Totally, 9 kg samples, 3
kg from each site, were purchased from local markets. Their nutritional compositions such as:
moisture, crude protein, total ash, crude fiber, crude fat, total carbohydrate and total energy
were determined using the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) method. The antinutritional components including oxalate and, phytate were determined by titrimetric method.
Mineral compositions such as Ca, Mg, Fe and Zn were determined by Flame Atomic Absorption
Spectrophotometer. The obtained results for nutritional contents for Dembi Dollo, Gimbi and
Jimma samples were (66, 70.2, and 73 g/100 g) moisture content;(1.55, 0.80 and 1.17 g/100 g)
crude protein; (4.73, 4.43, and 4.24 g/100 g) total ash; (5.92, 5.69, and 5.73 g/100 g) crude
fiber; (0.14, 0.22, and 0.41 g/100 g) crude fat; (21.34, 18.54, and 15.50 g/100 g) carbohydrate
content; (92.81, 79.38, and 70.37 g/100 g) gross energy, respectively. The phytate and oxalate
content were 0.18, 0.12, 0.07 and 0.81, 0.62, and 0.26 mg/; while the mineral content of raw
Anchote samples contained Fe (6.8, 34.95, and 36.9 mg/100 g), Ca (114.95, 49.95, and 64
mg/100 g), Mg (16.35, 21.1, and 19.65 mg/100 g), and Zn (12.7, 11.25, and 9.1 mg/100 g)100g
in Dembi Dollo, Gimbi and Jimma samples, respectively. One way ANOVA (p< 0.05) showed the
presence of significant variation among anchote samples collected from different sites.
