INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 2, ISSUE 7, JULY 2013 ISSN 2277-8616 140 IJSTR©2013 www.ijstr.org Evaluation Of Nutritional Value Of Wild Rice From Kaduna State, Central Nigeria. M.A Umar, R. Ugonor, C.B. Akin-Osanaiye, S.A Kolawole. ABSTRACT : Wildrice samples obtained from Kaduna state, Nigeria were analysed for proximate, mineral and vitamin composition. The results of the proximate composition shows the moisture content of wild rice to be 8.66%; ash content 1.25 %, lipids content 0.67%, protein 13.80%; crude fiber is 0.67% and carbohydrate content to be 74.95%.The elemental analysis was carried out using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and the results show that wild rice possessed high content of potassium and has low content of nickel. The vitamin contents of wild rice were also determined and the results show that it contains thiamin, riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3) with the following value 4.10mg/kg, 5.90 mg/kg and 57.00 mg/kg respectively. The antinutritional factors of the wildrice sample were also determined and the results are as follows; cyanogenic glycosides 4.10%, phytic acid 1.17%, oxalate 1.25%, saponins 7.90% and taninn 0.34%. The protein content of wildrice is relatively high for a cereal. Wild rice is a good source of the B vitamins – thiamin, riboflavin and niacin and contains common minerals in amounts comparable to those in other cereals. The values obtained for antinutritional factors for the wildrice sample are quite low and therefore can be tolerated by the body. Keywords: Wildrice, Proximate Analysis, Antinuritional, Cyanogenic glycosides, Phytic acid, Oxalate, Saponins and Taninn. ———————————————————— INTRODUCTION Wild rice is an aquatic cereal grain that grows naturally in isolated lakes, river bed areas and marshes [1]. . Wild rice is called Gu-rice [2] or Jiaobai-zi [3] in China. In ancient China it was called Diahu-rice, Yanshan, Anhu, Jiagshi and black rice. [4] It is also called Canada rice, Indian rice and water oats. It is from the genus Zizania and is of four species. It is mostly grown in North America, Indian, China and some parts of Nigeria (Northern Nigeria in partcular) [5]. In addition to its role as an important staple food for ancestral people, it has provided a unique habitat for fish and water fowls for thousands of years [1], [5] . Wild rice is a grain of reel-like aquatic plant (Zizania aquatica), which is related to rice. The grains are long, slender and black with a distinctive earthy, nutty flavour. It is available in three different grades, giants, which is very long and the best quality, fancy, which is a medium grain and of lesser quality and select, which is a short grain. It is an annual grass which grows naturally [1] . Zizania latifolia (Griseb) is one of the species of wild rice peculiar to the Chinese people, is an age-old cereal. During the Zhou dynasty (11 th century BC -256BC), the grain had become attribute food to be presented and eaten by the emperors and the nobles. It has been considered a Chinese medicine since the Tang dynasty. The North American wild rice namely Zizania aquatica, Zizania palustris and Zizania Texana [6]. is an aquatic plant that grows predominantly in the great lake regions. There are distinct strains differing in numbers of kernels per head, average kernel size and date of ripening. Chinese wild rice grain is smaller (about 10 mm in length and about 1mm in diameter) and lighter colour (green or brown) than the Northern American wild rice. The Northern Nigerian wild rice is similar to that of the Northern American wild rice. Wild rice is well known by all tribesof the Nigerian society.The Hausas call it shinkafa tsutsaye (i.e rice for the birds ), the Ibos calls it, rice for the spirit. Anderson in 1976 carried out proximate analysis of wild rice and concluded that it is richer in protein than any other selected grains, except oats [7]. Several reports on the nutritional composition of cultivated cereals all over the world are available, and the value reported for various cereal have been very useful in nutritional studies [7] . This substantial value of protein in wild rice will therefore makes it more nutritious than other cereals for consumption. There are four species of wild rice, three of these species are peculiar to the North America namely; Zizania, palutris, Zizania aquatica, Zizania texana. While the fourth species is native to Asia Zizania latifolia or Zizania caducifolia [1]. The three species found in Northern Nigeria are Zizania palutris, Zizania aquatica, and Zizania texana. To the best of our knowledge, no work has been reported on the nutritional and proximate analysis value of wild rice from Nigeria. This work will add to the data available on wild rice value from other parts of the world. EXPERIMENTAL Materials and methods Materials The sample were taken randomly from three location namely: Ankwa Barde, Kagoro, and Gure all in Kaduna state , Nigeria. All the reagents used were of analytical grades and were obtained from Aldrich Ltd, U.S.A. and British Drug House (BDH) Poole, England. The Chemicals were used with no further purification. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer and Uv-visible Spectrophotometer were used for the determination of minerals and vitamins respectively. Methods The wild rice sample were harvested and dried for three days. The kernels were then removed from the stalk, and dehusked using mortar. This was followed by winnowing to remove the chaff .The wild rice was then ground into fine powder using blender and stored in a clean sample bottle. __________________________  M.A Umar, R. Ugonor, C.B. Akin-Osanaiye, S.A Kolawole.  Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria.