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ABSTRACTOne of the most significant food crops in West Africa is the yam (Dioscorea rotundata). For many people in tropical nations, it is a significant source of carbs and nutritious energy. Roots and tubers are rarely consumed uncooked, much like many other foods. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the nutritional makeup of white yams (Dioscorea rotundata) is affected by the processing techniques of cooking, frying, and roasting. After being peeled, cleaned, and diced, freshly collected Dioscorea rotundata tubers were processed domestically using a variety of methods, including boiling, frying, roasting, and roasting. Their vitamin, mineral, and proximate compositions were assessed. Roasted yams were shown to have the highest levels of ash and carbohydrates, while their other proximal properties were comparatively low. When compared to other processing methods, roasted yam had considerably higher mineral levels (p<0.05) in all mineral constituents, with the exception of salt. Compared to other processing processes, raw yam had a higher vitamin C concentration. In general, yams have nutritional content regardless of processing method, therefore they can be used for adult diets and for children's weaning or complementary feeding.IntroductionYam is a member of the Dioscorea genus. It is an important staple food for an estimated 60 million people in the "Yam Zone" of West Africa, which stretches from Ivory Coast to Cameroon (Adepoju et al., 2010). More than half of the world's yams are produced in Nigeria alone. In addition to having a high starch content, yams also contain the enzyme alpha amylase, which, as the tuber ages in storage, turns starch into sugars (Adegunwa et al., 2011). Yams are frequently boiled, roasted, or fried and then eaten with sauces. Additionally, fresh yams can be peeled, boiled, and then pounded to create pounded yam, a sticky, elastic dough. Making roots, tubers, and their products more pleasant, digestible, and safe for human consumption is the main goal of these techniques. Additionally, processing prolongs the shelf life of roots and tubers, which are frequently quite perishable when fresh. Additionally, it offers a range of items that are easier to cook, prepare, and eat than the original new materials. According to Ferde et al. (2010), women are known to be highly involved in every step of the cultivation and processing of root crops. If efforts are made to identify and overcome the obstacles to its production, there are indications that yam has a strong chance of helping to close the anticipated food gap in Africa in the twenty-first century. Nonetheless, Nigeria is the world's largest producer, contributing 71% of global yam production, making West Africa the most significant yam-producing region in the world (BBC, 2010). Yam's relatively high moisture content and susceptibility to slow physiological deterioration after harvesting place it in the semi-perishable food class. Nonetheless, yams can be dried to create less perishable goods like yam flour (Inagbire and Hilda, 2011). Before yam tubers can be preserved, they must air dry in the sun. It is thought that the way these crops are processed may have an impact on their nutritional value. Because it produces a large yield when there is rainfall, yams also play a significant role in Nigeriansnutrition and economics. Pharmaceutical substances including saponins and sapogenins, which are precursors of cortisone and steroidal hormones, are found in the majority of yam species. According to Ejimofor et al. (2023), yam plants belong to the order Dioscoreales, family Dioscoreaceae, and genus Dioscorea.Dioscorea is the largest and most significant genus in the Dioscoreaceae family, which also includes several additional genera. Eleazu and Ironua (2013) reported eight yam species grown in Cameroon, while Away et al. (2017) recorded twelve cultivars and six common species grown in Jaimaca. There are many different cultivars of D. rotundata, which is consumed extensively in Nigeria. In one of its publication series, the Food Basket Foundation International (FBFI) listed the nutritional makeup of foods that are frequently consumed in Nigeria in their raw, processed, and prepared forms. It also included information on the energy and nutrient content of water yams (Dioscorea alata) (FBFI Publication Series, 1995). However, there was no information available on white yams, which are the most popular fruit in Nigeria. Relatively little is known about the nutritional makeup of the several prepared goods made from white yams, despite the fact that they are a staple diet in Nigeria.

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