Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 2017, Vol. 5, No. 3, 168-175 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/5/3/5 ©Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/jfnr-5-3-5 Nutritional Evaluation of Selected Traditional Foods Commonly Consumed in Saudi Arabia Nora Abdullah Al-Faris * Nutrition and Food Science Department, College of Home Economics, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, PO Box 27938, Riyadh, 11427, Saudi Arabia *Corresponding author: naalfaris@pnu.edu.sa Abstract During the last few decades, Saudi Arabia experienced rapid nutritional transition associated with an alarming elevation in the prevalence of obesity and related chronic diseases. Traditional foods contribute to the usual diet of the population in Saudi Arabia and the nutritional evaluation of traditional foods is necessary to accurately estimate dietary intakes of the Saudi population. Therefore, the objective of the current work is to evaluate twenty- five traditional foods commonly consumed in Saudi Arabia based on their nutritional composition. Proximate composition and vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus, iron, phytate and oxalate content were investigated. On fresh weight basis, the analyzed foods contained 1.17-16.19% (N × 6.25) protein, 0.25-17.84% fat, 2.57-68.30% carbohydrate, 0.31-2.26% dietary fiber, 0.67-2.90% ash and 17-430 kcal/g. The vitamin D content ranged from 0.0- 75.88 IU/100g. Mineral content (mg/100g) of calcium, phosphorus and iron were 13.62-91.37, 22.33-200.37 and 0.51-4.44 respectively. Phytate and oxalate content (mg/100g) were 2.25-148.52 and 1.02-48.63 respectively. The studied traditional foods contributed 15-91%, 3-69% and 2-30% of the total food energy from carbohydrate, fat and protein respectively. Data from this study will be important to clarify nutritional value and nutrient contribution from common traditional foods in Saudi Arabia. Saudi dietary guidelines should take into consideration, the nutritive value and health aspects of traditional foods. Keywords: Saudi Arabia, proximate composition, vitamin D, minerals, phytate, oxalate Cite This Article: Nora Abdullah Al-Faris, “Nutritional Evaluation of Selected Traditional Foods Commonly Consumed in Saudi Arabia.” Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, vol. 5, no. 3 (2017): 168-175. doi: 10.12691/jfnr-5-3-5. 1. Introduction The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has experienced fast and complete epidemiologic and nutritional transition over the last four decades [1]. Rapid economic growth fuelled by oil revenues led to a remarkable change in the lifestyle of Saudis toward westernised lifestyle which is characterised by unhealthy dietary patterns and sedentary behaviours [2,3]. These changes are associated with a dramatic increase in the prevalence of obesity and related chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, in Saudi Arabia [4,5,6]. A national based survey conducted by the Saudi Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in 2013 found that 28.7% of Saudis aged 15 years or older were obese [4]. Further, International Diabetes Federation reported that 3.4 million Saudis suffering from diabetes in 2015 constituted 17.6% of adults aged 20-79 years [5]. In the same fashion, coronary heart disease constitutes the third most common cause of hospital-based mortality after accidents and senility in Saudi Arabia [6]. Traditional foods are those proven to be consumed regionally by a specific community, for a period of time showing transmission between generations [7]. Traditional foods; either homemade foods or out-of-home foods purchased from local food outlets, still contribute to people’s usual diet. Therefore, the nutritional evaluation of traditional foods is necessary to estimate population dietary intakes accurately [7]. Unfortunately, information about nutritional composition data of traditional foods is missing for most current national food composition databases [8]. Nutritional evaluations of some traditional foods have been investigated in Saudi Arabia [9,10,11] and other neighbouring Arab Gulf countries [12,13,14]. However, many traditional foods commonly consumed in Saudi Arabia were not evaluated in these studies. In addition, possible variations resulting from differences in the ingredients and methods of preparation across Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries in the gulf region may exist [12]. Therefore, it is important to determine the nutritive values of traditional Saudi foods through generating their nutritional composition data. The aim of this study is to evaluate the nutritional value of twenty-five traditional foods commonly consumed in Saudi Arabia based on their proximate composition and content of vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus, iron, phytate and oxalate.