Influence of cooking method on the nutrients of young Myrianthus arboreus leaves

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of cooking on the nutritional properties of young leaves of Myrianthus arboreus used in the preparation of sauces. The young leaves of Myrianthus arboreus cooked with steam and water at different times (10, 20 and 30 minutes) constituted the plant material. The analyzes carried out using standard and referenced methods focused on the biochemical composition. It appears from the results that the parameters studied undergo a significant decrease depending on the time and the cooking method with higher losses for cooking in water. Thus, fresh leaves of Myrianthus arboreus with contents of Ca (1203.06), K (1881.30) and Fe (7.55) undergo progressive losses from 16.11 to 39.70% and 8.52 to 29.32%; 36.09 to 61.06% and 18.18 to 46.80%; and 24.50 to 58.01% and 8.21 to 37.35% respectively for cooking with water and steam after 10 and 30 min. Regarding fiber, the results indicate that both cooking methods led to an increase in fiber. However, cooking in water gave a higher fiber rate (57.98%) than steam cooking (53.01%) after 30 min. Also, the amino acid profile shows the presence of 10 amino acids with 7 essential amino acids. These amino acid levels decrease and sometimes disappear with different cooking methods. Except, lysine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid which are present in these young leaves whatever the time and cooking method. To better benefit from the nutrients of the young leaves of Myrianthus arboreus, steaming for 10 minutes would be the most appropriate cooking.