Determination of the Proximate and Heavy Metal Composition of Yam Flour, Cassava and Plantain Flour Used in Food Preparation

This abstract presents a study on the proximate and heavy metal composition of yam flour, cassava flour, and plantain flour commonly used in food preparation. The moisture content, crude fat, ash content, crude fibre, crude protein, carbohydrate, and levels of copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), and mercury (Hg) were analyzed for each flour type. The results indicate that yam flour had a moisture content of 5.59%, crude fat content of 1.895%, ash content of 6.54%, crude fibre content of 9.05%, crude protein content of 6.96%, carbohydrate content of 70.0%, and heavy metal levels of 0.585 mg/kg (Cu), 0.002 mg/kg (Cd), 0.042 mg/kg (Cr), 6.69 mg/kg (Fe), 0.895 mg/kg (Mn), 0.017 mg/kg (Pb), 0.060 mg/kg (Ni), 46.5 mg/kg (Zn), and 0.001 mg/kg (Hg). Cassava flour exhibited a moisture content of 5.33%, crude fat content of 1.74%, ash content of 7.23%, crude fibre content of 10.7%, crude protein content of 8.75%, carbohydrate content of 66.3%, and heavy metal levels of 0.398 mg/kg (Cu), 0.010 mg/kg (Cd), 0.050 mg/kg (Cr), 8.36 mg/kg (Fe), 1.09 mg/kg (Mn), 0.019 mg/kg (Pb), 0.058 mg/kg (Ni), 40.9 mg/kg (Zn), and 0.001 mg/kg (Hg). Plantain flour displayed a moisture content of 5.01%, crude fat content of 2.05%, ash content of 5.05%, crude fibre content of 7.62%, crude protein content of 5.76%, carbohydrate content of 74.5%, and heavy metal levels of 0.529 mg/kg (Cu), 0.002 mg/kg (Cd), 0.059 mg/kg (Cr), 6.89 mg/kg (Fe), 0.749 mg/kg (Pb), 0.101 mg/kg (Ni), 36.8 mg/kg (Zn), and 0.001 mg/kg (Hg).