Abstract

Etta Hannah Edim*, Ijakeyi Blessing and Udo Sammuel

A comparative study on the consumption preference, mineral contents and proximate composition of five ecotypes of the edible vegetable, Gnetum africanum Welw. was carried out. The five ecotypes were Umuahia ecotype, Calabar ecotype, Ikom ecotype, Eket ecotype (Nigeria) and Limbe ecotype (Cameroun). These five ecotypes were chosen because they represent a wide consumption range of the vegetable. The minerals investigated were nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous, sodium, calcium and magnesium. The results showed that there was significant (P0.01) except between Umuahia (Abia State) and Ikom (Cross River State) ecotypes (P<0.01). This investigation showed that the consumption preference, mineral contents and proximate composition of five ecotypes of the edible vegetable, G. africanum were affected differently in the ecotypes studied. Future efforts to domesticate this nutritiously rich African vegetable should be guided by the results of this investigation.