TY - JOUR
T1 - Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) in a refugee context in East Africa
T2 - Kitchen gardening helps with mineral provision
AU - Woldetsadik, Desta
AU - Llorent-Martínez, Eulogio J.
AU - Gebrezgabher, Solomie
AU - Njenga, Mary
AU - Mendum, Ruth
AU - Castillo-López, Roxana
AU - Fernández-de Córdova, Maria L.
AU - Hailu, Hillette
AU - Evans, Colby T.
AU - Madani, Nelly
AU - Mafika, Tamlyn P.
AU - Fleming, David E.B.
N1 - Funding Information:
Baseline assessment was enabled by funding from Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), Germany and CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) under the project on Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR) in refugee settlements in Africa. Partial funding was provided by a Discovery Grant awarded to DEBF (2018–03902) by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Funding Information:
The gender researcher (RM) from Pennsylvania State University is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hatch Appropriations under Project #PEN04724 and Accession #1020895. Technical and human support provided by CICT of Universidad de Jaén (UJA, MINECO, Junta de Andalucía, FEDER), and the Physics Department, Mount Allison University, is strongly acknowledged. We are grateful for Pay Drechsel for the thorough review. We are also grateful to Binyam Tesfaye, Befekadu Elfiyos, Dr. Clement Okia, Dr. Erik Francis Acanakwo and Florence Kandole for the support during sample collection.
Funding Information:
The gender researcher (RM) from Pennsylvania State University is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Hatch Appropriations under Project #PEN04724 and Accession #1020895. Technical and human support provided by CICT of Universidad de Jaén (UJA, MINECO, Junta de Andalucía, FEDER), and the Physics Department, Mount Allison University, is strongly acknowledged. We are grateful for Pay Drechsel for the thorough review. We are also grateful to Binyam Tesfaye, Befekadu Elfiyos, Dr. Clement Okia, Dr. Erik Francis Acanakwo and Florence Kandole for the support during sample collection.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Kitchen gardening is considered a way to reconnect with agriculture and complement the cereal-based relief food offered to refugees in East Africa. This work aimed at profiling mineral content of okra in four refugee camps and settlements located in Ethiopia and Uganda and its contribution to adequate intake (AIs) or recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) for young children and pregnant and lactating women (PLW). The study also evaluated the applicability of portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) as compared with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for mineral profiling of okra powder samples. The contents of minerals (mg kg−1) from the ICP-MS readings were in the following ranges: K (14,385–33,294), Ca (2610–14,090), P (3178–13,248), Mg (3896–7986), Cu (3.81–19.3), Fe (75.7–1243), Zn (33–141) and Mn (23.1–261). Regardless of geographic origin, at low-end consumption probability (17 g day−1 for young children and 68 g day−1 for PLW), okra could contribute ˂ 15% (2.7–12.9%) AI for macro-minerals (K and Ca). In addition, the contributions to RDA values for Fe and Zn, elements of known public health interest, ranged from 4.5 to 34.7% for young children. Interestingly, regression lines revealed strong agreement between ICP-MS and PXRF readings for Mn and Zn, with R2 values > 0.91. This information is useful in support of nutrition-sensitive kitchen gardening programs through scaling culturally important crops in refugee settings.
AB - Kitchen gardening is considered a way to reconnect with agriculture and complement the cereal-based relief food offered to refugees in East Africa. This work aimed at profiling mineral content of okra in four refugee camps and settlements located in Ethiopia and Uganda and its contribution to adequate intake (AIs) or recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) for young children and pregnant and lactating women (PLW). The study also evaluated the applicability of portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) as compared with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for mineral profiling of okra powder samples. The contents of minerals (mg kg−1) from the ICP-MS readings were in the following ranges: K (14,385–33,294), Ca (2610–14,090), P (3178–13,248), Mg (3896–7986), Cu (3.81–19.3), Fe (75.7–1243), Zn (33–141) and Mn (23.1–261). Regardless of geographic origin, at low-end consumption probability (17 g day−1 for young children and 68 g day−1 for PLW), okra could contribute ˂ 15% (2.7–12.9%) AI for macro-minerals (K and Ca). In addition, the contributions to RDA values for Fe and Zn, elements of known public health interest, ranged from 4.5 to 34.7% for young children. Interestingly, regression lines revealed strong agreement between ICP-MS and PXRF readings for Mn and Zn, with R2 values > 0.91. This information is useful in support of nutrition-sensitive kitchen gardening programs through scaling culturally important crops in refugee settings.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85121569433&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s42452-021-04898-6
DO - 10.1007/s42452-021-04898-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 34957376
AN - SCOPUS:85121569433
SN - 2523-3971
VL - 4
JO - SN Applied Sciences
JF - SN Applied Sciences
IS - 1
M1 - 32
ER -
