Assessing the Anti-Nutritional Composition of Four Varieties of African Yam Bean in Afikpo Town of Ebonyi State Nigeria

The anti-nutritional composition of white, brown, spotted and black coat coloured African yam bean varieties that are cultivated in the Afikpo town of Ebonyi State in Nigeria was determined in this study. The oxalate, trypsin, inhibitor phytate, and tannin contents were determined. The results of the oxalate composition showed that the white variety was lowest with the value of 0.949 mg/100, while the brown variety was highest with the value of 5.973 mg/100. The trypsin, phytate and tannin contents ranged from 0.689 mg/l to 0.981 mg/l, 0.002 mg/100 to 0.003 mg/100 and 0.005 % to 0.008 %. There were no significant differences in the compositions of inhibitor phytate and tannin in the four varieties of the African yam bean. The findings suggest that the intake of the brown African yam bean should be minimized to avoid hindrance to calcium and magnesium metabolism because of the high oxalate content.