ABSTRACT
In the African villages, food insecurity is seasonal. There are certain times of the year when particular foods and nutrients are hard to come by. In a way these should be kept separate, although some foods contain both vitamins in abundance – for example parsley. The main thing to remember is that vitamin C is destroyed by cooking or drying. The food needs to be eaten raw. Boiling and making preserves is not an option to store vitamin C. Vitamin A is quite different. Cooking breaks down plant cell walls and releases vitamin A for digestion. Drying plants to preserve them can store vitamin A. The vitamin will stay in the plant only if we dry it in the shade – it will be destroyed if we dry the plants in full sun. These dried leaves can be used in soups and stews as a 'relish' to provide vitamin A.
