Abstract:
Vegetables are good sources of essential mineral elements that promote good health and immunity. Information on the nutritional
contents of indigenous vegetables is scarce. Therefore, this study sought to ascertain the concentrations of magnesium,
manganese, chrome, zinc, copper, and iron in Solanum nigrum and Gynandropsis gynandra indigenous vegetables from
two agroecological zones (upper midland and lower highland) of Kisii County, Kenya, using inductively coupled plasma
optical emission spectroscopy (ICP‒OES). For Gnandropsis gynandra, the most abundant erythrocytic synthesis element
was Fe (1856.67 ± 15.28 mg/kg DW) for plants harvested from Nyanchwa (UM), and the least was Cu (8.90 ± 0.44 mg/kg
DW) in plants harvested from Kari (LH). In addition, Mg was the hypoglycemic element with the highest concentration
(5975.00 ± 10.00 mg/kg DW), and Cr lowest (3.16 ± 0.45 mg/kg DW) in samples harvested from Matongo (UM). For Solanum
nigrum, the most erythrocytic synthesis element was Fe (1280.00 ± 10.00 mg/kg DW for samples collected from Kiamabundu
(UM), and the least was Cu (9.08 ± 0.15 mg/kg DW) in the samples from Nyanchwa (UM), whereas Mg in samples
from Nyabioto (UM) was the hypoglycemic element with the highest concentration (4920.00 ± 10.00 mg/kg DW) and Cr
in samples from Mariba (LH had the lowest concentration) (3.95 ± 1.63 mg/kg DW). The concentrations of elements in the
two indigenous vegetables from the UM agroecological zone were slightly greater than those in the LH agroecological zone.
Nonetheless, the variations observed were not statistically significant (P < 0.05). Enzymatically bio accessed concentrations
of iron, zinc, chromium, magnesium, manganese, and copper were higher than those obtained aquatically. The indigenous
vegetable bio avails substantial amounts of iron and copper to enable them be used in the management pernicious anaemia;
on the other hand, the substantial bio availed levels of zinc, manganese, magnesium, and chromium enables the vegetable
to be used in the management of diabetes.
