Assessment of the rates of thiocyanate in treated and untreated red and brown finger millet (Eleusine coracana) cultivated in Mogotio Area, Baringo County, Kenya

Abstract

Abstract. Chebet SJ, Nawiri M, Murungi J. 2018. Assessment of the rates of thiocyanate in treated and untreated red and brown finger millet (Eleusine coracana) cultivated in Mogotio Area, Baringo County, Kenya. Trop Drylands 2: 28-34. Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is a significant African primary diet crop in the tropics. But, the plant contains cyanogenic glycosides which can be easily altered to thiocyanate, impeding the absorption of iodine and eventually causing goiter. People of Mogotio, Kenya usually cultivate the red and brown varieties of finger millet. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the rate of thiocyanate in treated and untreated finger millet in Mogotio so as to mitigate goiter risks in the region. The rates of thiocyanate were examined from the finger millet in the form of dried, germinated or immersed beans, or in the form of fresh, fermented or cooked flour. The green and dried leaves of the plant were also examined for thiocyanate. Samples of the red and brown varieties of finger millet were arbitrarily picked out from the cultivators in the area. Thiocyanate content was examined utilizing UV-VIS spectrophotometric detection. ANOVA and independent T-test were utilized to analyze data. SNK test was utilized to do the separation of means. The results showed that the rates of thiocyanate content in the red finger millet were between 43.48±1.56 to 4.28±0.5 mg/kg with the highest rates was in fresh dried beans followed by germinated ones and the lowest rates were in cooked flour. While in the brown finger millet, it was between 53.30±0.78 to 4.96±0.40 mg/kg with the highest rates was in germinated beans and the lowest rates were in cooked flour. Green leaves held 31.69±0.71 mg/kg while the dried ones held 8.80±0.14 mg/kg. The results showed significant dissimilarities between the rates in the beans and that of in the flour (p< 0.001). They also showed that the thiocyanate content in finger millet samples was within the recommended rates (100 mg/kg), but the frequency of intake may still give a risk to health. Therefore, it is suggested to encourage the cooking of finger millet before processing as this treatment decreases thiocyanate rates.