By Nnaji, Chidinma Emmanuela
Effect of two cooking methods (boiling and frying) on the nutrients and anti-nutrients of Irish potato and two varieties of Sweet potatoes (white flesh (Wf) and orange flesh (Of)) were evaluated in this work using standard techniques. The percentage proximate analysis of the raw samples revealed that the moisture (85.44 ± 0.78%), fats (1.04 ± 0.03%) and protein (2.10 ± 0.03%) contents of the Irish potato sample were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher compared to that of the sweet potatoes. While the sweet potatoes had a higher carbohydrate (25.99 ± 1.22%: Wf and 29.08 ± 1.46%: Of) and fibre (1.28 ± 0.03%: Wf and 1.39 ± 0.02%: Of) contents compared to the Irish potato. The white flesh sweet potato had the highest ash content (1.71 ± 0.03%) which was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than others. The mineral analysis of these potatoes showed that the calcium (144.04 ± 1.69mg/100g) and magnesium (64.12 ± 1.75mg/100g) contents of the Irish potatoes were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher compared to the two varieties of sweet potato. The sweet potatoes had significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher iron content (4.91 ± 0.03mg/100g: Wf and 3.97 ± 0.05mg/100g: Of) than the Irish potato (2.98 ± 0.04mg/100g). The orange flesh sweet potato sample had the highest potassium (127.74 ± 2.66mg/100g) and sodium (137.28 ± 0.53mg/100g) contents, while the white flesh sample had the highest selenium content (0.91 ± 0.03mg/100g) compared to the others.