1.“Ulam-ulaman” Intake Among Adults from Various Ethnics in Selangor
Nurul Izzah Ahmad ; Aminah Abdullah ; Md. Pauzi Abdullah ; Lee Yook Heng ; Wan Rozita Wan Mahiyuddin ; Siti Fatimah Daud ; Lokman Hakim Sulaiman
Malaysian Journal of Health Sciences 2010;8(2):27-35
A survey was conducted to investigate the level of consumption of ‘ulam’ in Selangor State among 252 adults (> 17years) (male 28.6%, female 71.4%) of major ethnics (Malays-51.6%; Chinese-30.5%; Indians-17.5%) with the mean
age of 42.7 ± 13.9 years. Consumption data were collected using 24 hours duplicate samples together with questionnaire on perceptions of ‘ulam.’ Results showed that ‘ulam’ was preferred by majority of the subjects (82.1%), especially amongst Malays (92.3%). A total of 52% of the subjects consumed partially or boiled ‘ulam.’ Factors that affect their preferences on ‘ulam’ were the perception of therapeutic effects of the ‘ulam’ towards health, its good taste and unique aroma. The most consumed ‘ulam’ were cucumber (Cucumis sativus) (60.6%) ‘kacang botol’ (Psophocarpus
tetragonolobus) (33%), Indian pennywort (Hydrocotyle asiatica) (31.5%), lettuce (Lactuca sativa) (27.6%), ‘petai’ (Parkia speciosa) (29%) and ‘ulam raja’ (Cosmos caudatus) (21.9%). The most preferred partially or boiled ‘ulam’ were tapioca shoot (Manihot esculenta) (31.5%), ocra (Hibiscus esculentus) (12.5%) and ‘jantung pisang’ (Musa sapientum) (20.1%). There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) amongst the three different ethnic groups on the consumption of ‘ulam’ and the median for total intake per day was within the range of 30-39 g/day. Ulam is a potential source for increasing vegetable consumption to meet recommendation by World Health Organization (WHO), which is 400 g per day.