Proximate analysis of fruits and vegetables wastes from Nairobi County, Kenya

Proximate analysis of twenty fruits and vegetable waste from Nairobi County was evaluated. They were obtained from Kangemi and Wakulima markets. Standard procedures were used for the analysis of crude fat, protein, fiber, carbohydrates, moisture, ash, nitrogen-free extract and energy.  The results obtained revealed that moisture content was in the range of 82.8 to 95.86% apart from sweet potato and banana which was 62.05 and 74.30% respectively. Protein range was between 0.57 to 3.49% with high-fat content being recorded in avocado at 9.03%.  The ash content was highest in comfrey at 3.46% and lowest in mango at 0.44%. The carbohydrate level obtained by the difference method was lowest in courgette at 1.99% with crude fiber ranging from 0.69 to 2.73%. The total calculated energy ranged from 1.94 to 39.98 Kcal/100g. The macro-nutrient concentrations were 3.59 and 1.53% for potassium and calcium respectively. Lead, iron and zinc were detected at 15.1±3.6, 3742±235 and 176±11 ppm respectively. There is the presence of proximate properties in the edible portion of wasted fruits and vegetable and therefore, this study recommends proper fruits and vegetable handling during harvest, transportation, storage and marketing. Besides, the unavoidable waste should be used as biomass in energy production to deal with landfilling issues in the market places.