Content of Minerals and Antinutritional Factors in Akara (Fried Cowpea Food)

The aim of the study was the quantifaction of minerals and antinutritional factors in akara (AK) and its crude mass (CM). Deep-frying was performed on 5 consecutive days. Potassium and phosphorus were the most abundant elements naturally present (545-719 mg 100 g-1 and 210-375 mg 100 g-1, respectively), while sodium exhibited the highest contents (699-1,869 mg 100 g-1) because of salt addition to CM. The content of antinutritional factors in AK and CM were determined to be: 11.27 ± 0.17 and 9.9 ± 0.14 µmol g-1 (InsP5); 2.92 ± 0.03 and 3.75 ± 0.11 µmol g-1 (InsP6); 1.73 ± 0.16 and 1.68 ± 0.02 mg eq. CE g-1 (tannins); 6.35 ± 0.03 and 6.27 ± 0.03 mg g-1 (polyphenols); 0.50 ± 0.00 and 0.0 HU kg-1 (hemagglutinins). Deep frying led to a signiï¬cant reduction (p ≤ 0.05) in the content of most of the minerals and antinutritional factors analyzed. Nonetheless, AK was shown to be a good source of K, P, Mg, Mn, Mo, Cr, Cu, Fe and Zn. However, bioavailability of the Fe and Zn was low