Linolenic acid and folate in wild-growing African dark leafy vegetables (morogo)

Transition from a low-fat vegetable-rich rural diet to a high-fat Westernised diet is considered a factor in the escalating occurrence of vascular-related diseases and type 2 diabetes in urban black South Africans. Consumption of morogo is a distinguishing feature of rural African diets. To determine fatty acid profiles and folate contents of three widely consumed, wild-growing, African dark green leafy vegetables (morogo). GC-MS was applied for analysis of fatty acid composition and a validated microbiological assay conducted to determine folic acid contents of wild-growing morogo sampled from deep rural villages in three different geographical regions of South Africa. Measured fatty acids ranged from 1610.2 to 2941.6 mg/100 g dry mass, with PUFA concentrations 1.4 to 2.8 times those of SFA. Calculated from the relative percentages of linoleic acid (18:2n-6) and linolenic acid (18:3n-3), the ratio of 18:2n-6 to 18:3n-3 PUFA was 1.0:3.4 to 1.0:8.9. The only MUFA was palmitoleic acid (16:1), measured at 34.7 (sd 0.3) to 79.0 (sd 9.3) mg/100 g dry mass, and the predominant SFA was palmitic acid (16:0), measured at 420.6 (sd 83.3) to 662.0 (sd 21.2) mg/100 g dry mass. Folic acid concentration varied from 72 to 217 microg/100 g fresh sample. Morogo is low-fat food item high in folate and with 18:3n-3 in excess of 18:2n-6, the proposed anti-inflammatory effects of which may lower risks of vascular-related chronic diseases and type 2 diabetes.