Abstract:

In order to study anti-nutritional factors in introduced chaya leaves, major anti-nutritional compositions were analyzed and cyanogenic glycosides in chaya leaves were also determined to evaluate their change due to different treatment processing methods. Results indicated that chaya leaves contained cyanogenic glycosides, alkaloids, steroidal saponins and tannins. Cyanogenic glycosides were major anti-nutritional factors. The content of cyanogenic glycosides exhibited a gradual decrease in chaya through treatments such as steam heating, hot-air drying, microwave treatment and boiling water treatment. The residual cyanogenic glycosides were 31.31%, 40.69%, 3.74% and 2.17% in chaya leaves treated by the above methods, respectively. According to experimental investigations, the content of cyanogenic glycosides was lower than 5 mg/kg after treatment with microwave or boiling water, which meets the edible requirements.

Key words: chaya, anti-nutritional factor, cyanogenic glycosides