Nutritional Profile of Ready-to-Eat Foods Consumed in Bahrain

Abstract

Nine different types of ready-to-eat foods were purchased from food outlets in Bahrain and analyzed for their proximate, mineral, and sterol compositions as well as their fatty acid profile. On a fresh weight basis the food contained 24.92–67.70% moisture, 2.63–31.96% protein (N × 6.25), 4.86–23.93% fat, 0.56–2.86% fiber, and 1.55–35.18% w/w carbohydrates. The energy value ranged from 136–402 Kcal/100g, and fiber levels were high in the vegetables food (range from 0.56–2.86% w/w). Sodium levels (4068.0–9025.0 ppm) were high in most of the food tested and the meat food in particular had higher levels of calcium (163.0–1384.2 ppm), iron (1.5–62.7 ppm) and zinc (2.2–35.4 ppm). Considerable levels of potassium and magnesium were also present, while copper and manganese were deficient. The cholesterol levels were low in vegetable and high in the meat food (<1.00–163.05 mg/100 mg). Of the sterols of plant origin, β-sitosterol (<1.00–11.57 mg/100 mg) was the most prominent while campesterol and stigmasterol were low. The main fatty acids present were oleic (33.5–41.7 mg/100 g), palmitic (43.1 mg–20.1 mg/100 g), linoleic (3.4–26.8 mg/100 g), and stearic acid (4.3–24.4 mg/100 g) with lower levels of myristic acid (0.80–5.0 mg/100 g).

KEYWORDS:

• Arabian Gulf
• ready-to-eat foods
• proximate composition
• mineral composition
• sterol composition
• fatty acid profile