The Effect of Peeling and Boiling Process on Nutrition and Health-Promoting Compounds of Root Vegetables Harvested at Mjindi area Located in Jozini, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Abstract

South Africa possesses a huge diversity of root vegetables crops which are grown under various weather conditions (Allemann et al. 2004) [1]. They are underground plant parts consumed by humans as food. Amadumbe are tuber crops produced as underground corm, potatoes are produced as stem tubers, sweet potatoes and carrots are produced as storage roots (Chandrasekara and Josheph Kumar 2016) [2].. They provide affordable sources of nutritional energy in the form of carbohydrates, fibre and protein (Chandrasekara and Josheph Kumar 2016) [2] and natural pigments with pharmacological relevance and therapeutic properties capable of reducing chronic diseases incidence known as phytochemicals (Petropoulos et al. 2019) [3]. Phytochemicals are bioactive compounds that exert health beneficial effects because they combat oxidative stress in the body by maintaining a balance between oxidants and antioxidants. Their biological activity occurs through the donation of electrons or hydrogen atoms from its hydroxyl to free radicals (Sreeramulu and Raghunath 2010) [4].