*) Correspondence Email: 67 Research Article Nutritional and Industrial Research Laboratories, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, 200005. https://journal.ugm.ac.id/ifnp IFNP, Vol. 18, No. 2 (2021) ISSN 2597-9388 DOI: 10.22146/ifnp.61906 ABSTRACT: Plantains unlike bananas which are conventionally consumed raw as dessert are mostly eaten either after boiling, Keywords: Plantain, cooking method, vitamins, mineral and proximate composition. steaming, roasting or frying which are there major cooking methods employed in plantain fruit utilization in Nigeria. However, studies have revealed that the method of preparation and cooking can either reduce or improve the nutrition quality of foods. Thus, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of cooking methods on the nutritional content of ripe and unripe plantain. Ripe and unripe plantain was obtained and divided into four (4) portions; raw which served as the control, boiled, fried and roasted. Analysis of the proximate, vitamin and mineral content of the samples were carried out using standard methods and our result revealed that boiling as a cooking method significantly retained the levels of minerals, vitamins and proximate composition of ripe and unripe plantain relative to frying and roasting. In conclusion we recommend that boiling should be predominately employed during cooking of neither ripe nor unripe plantain. INTRODUCTION One of the most significant crops grown in tropical regions is plantain. It belongs to the genus Musa and family Musaceae. The tropical plant Musa paradisiaca, often known as plantain in English, "Ogede agbagba" in Yoruba, "Ayaba" in Hausa, and "Ogadejioke" in Igbo, is indigenous to India (Okareh et al., 2015). It can grow to be up to 9 meters long, with a strong pseudostem like a tree and a crown of enormous, long, oval, deep-green leaves that can reach lengths of 365 cm and 65 cm (Auta and Kumurya, 2015). Each plantain in a cluster of fruits has a diameter of about an inch and is slightly longer than a banana fruit. The fruits are borne in clusters. Two and a half to four months after shooting, or a total of eight to twelve months from planting, are needed for plantain fruit to be ready for harvest (Okareh et al., 2015; Swennen, 1990). Plantains play a significant economic and dietary role in West, Central, and the Caribbean. Smallholders who grow them in compound farms, either in mixtures or solitary plots, get a sizable revenue from them. Only 10% of the 63 million tons of plantains produced worldwide are exported; the majority are consumed locally in the countries where they are grown (Awodoyin, 2003; Agbemafle et al., 2017). Plantains have remained a major starchy staple in sub-Saharan Africa for both rural and urban populations, contributing more than 25% of the continent's daily caloric intake and 10% of its daily calorie intake for more than 70 million people (IITA, 2000). Unripe plantains have been identified as hypoglycemic plants because of their low sugar content, which makes them useful in the treatment of diabetes problems. The fruits are starch-rich when unripe, but when they develop, the starch transforms into simple sugars (sucrose, glucose, and fructose) (Uzama et al., 2015). Unripe plantain consumption may provide significant non- pharmacological health benefits in the dietary management of type 2 diabetes mellitus because mature unripened plantain pulp has high levels of amylose and low glycemic indices and is also very rich in iron, potassium, vitamin A, and ascorbic acid (Adegboyega, 2006; Oko et al., 2015). Both unripe and ripened plantain contain considerable It is well known that depending on the cooking or processing method employed, meals are frequently processed or cooked to the point that vitamins and other nutritional components are lost, with vitamin losses reaching up to 90% (Penelope and Ritu, 2003). In Nigeria, plantains are often eaten after being cooked, in contrast to bananas, which are typically enjoyed raw as dessert. The main culinary techniques used for preparing plantain fruit are boiling, roasting, and frying. It has been shown that cooking meals enhances their microbiological and organoleptic properties, removes toxins and anti-nutritional elements, increases digestibility, and increases the bioavailability of minerals (Omotosho, 2015). In contrast, these practices simultaneously result in a significant loss of several minerals and vital vitamins in food (Yang and Gadi, 2008). Despite the fact that there is already information on how different cooking methods affect the nutritional components of plantains, most people choose a cooking method based more on flavor than on its nutritional effects. As a result, further research is still needed to support, expand upon, and update the body of existing literature. The goal of the current study was to ascertain how different cooking techniques affected the nutritional value and proximate composition of ripe and unripe plantains. amounts of phytochemical constituents, dietary bioflavonoids, and high levels of in-vitro antioxidant scavenging activities, according to Uzama et al. (2015). As a result of several health issues linked to food intake, such as diabetes and coronary heart disease, the field of human nutrition has expanded its advocacy for the use of functional foods (WHO/FAO, 2003; Ibeanu et al., 2016). the Nutritional Contents of Ripe and Unripe Plantain (Musa paradisiaca) A Comparative Study on the EƋect of Cooking Methods on Nwozo Sarah Onyenibe, Nwawuba Stanley Udogadi sonwozo@yahoomail.com, onyenibe.nwozo@mail.ui.eu.ng MATERIALS AND METHODS Sample collection and Preparation The samples were collected from the University of Ibadan Agriculture Farm and were divided into two (2) groups. One group served as unripe and the other was left to ripen for one week. The samples were further divided into four (4) portions; raw, boiled, fried and roasted.