Exploration of selected Indian and Malay Foods For their Mineral Nutrients Profiles: A Chemometrics Approach

Abstract

The commonly eaten Indian and Malay foods were studied in Johor Bahru, Malaysia to obtain nutrient in-formation and their relative mineral sourcing capacities. Exploratory Pattern recognition methods were applied. The mean concentrations of nine essential mineral nutrients (Ca, Mg, P, K, Na, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) were determined in the dishes of 22 equally selected Indian and Malay foods. Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer Instrument was used. Unsupervised Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were applied to the concentration data matrix. The results showed that both Indian and Malay foods can be categorized into three based on food nature. The rice, the flour and the meat and snack based foods. Malay foods are more of rice than the Indian foods which are more of flour. Both Indian and Malay foods are appreciably mineral nutrients rich. The dendrogram chart revealed close foods that can be substituted for each other. This means that intra and internationality food choice is possible. The study outcomes are significant in providing guide and choice to foods that are rich source of mineral nutrients. In addition, this study showed that the foods have potential capacities to be relevant in tackling mineral malnutrition and general health maintenance.