Browsing by Author "Mengistu, Degsew"

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    Chemical Composition and Antihypertensive Properties of Salt Extracted From Ash of Marsh Barbel (Hygrophilia Schulli) Grown on Gambella, Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa University, 2019-01-05) Mengistu, Degsew; Getachew, Paulos (PhD); Baye, Kaleab (PhD)
    In some parts of Ethiopia particularly, in Gambella (Anuaq), vegetable salt extracted from ash of plant parts is consumed as dietary salt and for therapeutic purposes of heart disease, liver disease, kidney failure, blood pressure and diabetics traditionally. The aim of this study was to investigate selected minerals composition, sensory acceptability and anti-hypertensive properties of vegetable salt extracted from Hygrophilia schulli. The salt was prepared from the ash obtained by burning stems of the Hygrophilia schulli. The Macro and micro minerals were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and toxic metals were analyzed by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS) accordingly. The mineral analysis showed that the salt was potassium rich and sodium poor with sodium to potassium ratio of 0.05. The vegetable ash was free from harmful metals like mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic and other analyzed toxic metals (Lead and Nickel) were below the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI) specified European Union. The values were 0.0026mg/Kg for lead and 0.0052mg/Kg for Nickel. The major anions in this salt were chloride, carbonate and sulfate but chloride was significantly (p<0.05) greater than carbonate and sulfate. The sensory acceptability (taste attribute) of vegetable salt was relatively low value (20%) when compared to common salt (80%). However, the sensory acceptability of the combination of vegetable and common (commercial) salt in different proportion was highly accepted than common salt. Finally, the antihypertensive property of the salt was determined invivo Wistar rat experiment. Based on this, rats fed on salt from Hygrophilia schulli showed a significant (p<0.005) lower systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure compared to normal fed and common salt fed rat groups. Results from this study indicated that vegetable salt extracted from Hygrophilia schulli can be a potential substitute of common salt with comparable sensory attributes, especially for people with hypertension and related chronic diseases.