Department of Plant Sciences

Vegetable is a vital component of human diet that should be eaten all year round, but they are scarce during dry season in Anyigba community in Kogi State, Nigeria. Available dry season vegetables such as the leaves of Manihot esculentum , Piper guineese, Chromolena odorata, Solanum melanogaster and Voandzeia subteranea, are either not accepted as conventional vegetable or they are classified as non edible leaves from neighboring States. This study compared the nutrient content of these vegetables with that of Telfaria occidendalis. The result of the sensory evaluation carried out showed that T. occidendalis had sensory evaluation mean value of 6.28, which was statistically significantly different (P = 0.001) when compared with the mean value of S. melanogaster (5.64). The highest mean value from the sensory evaluation was recorded in C. odorata (6.44). However, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the mean values of the sensory evaluation of Manihot esculentum, Piper guineese, Chromolena odorata and V. subteranea (6.02, 6.22, 6.44 and 6.10 mean values respectively) when compared with that of T. occidentalis (6.28). Manihot esculentum , C. odorata, P. guineese and V. subteranea were recommended as edible vegetables.