Fruit Consumption among Staff of Agricultural Based Institutions

Abstract

Fruits play a significant role in human nutrition, especially as sources of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. The human diet will be considered imbalanced without the presence of the recommended quantities of vitamins and minerals. Micronutrients necessary for proper development of humans are found only in fruits. This study investigated fruits consumption among staff of agricultural-based institutions in Ibadan, Nigeria. Primary data were collected using stratified random sampling technique considering the three strata of trade unions existing in the Institute. Data collected from 311 members of staff were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear regression model. The most preferred fruits are plantain (91.3%), banana (89.7%), sweet orange (87.5%) and apple (86.2%). On the other hand, the least preferred fruits are lemon (40.5%) and lime (46.9%). On daily basis, only 21.5% of the respondents consumed sweet orange. The result further showed that 47.9% consumed plantain, sweet orange (38.9%), banana (38.6%) and only 4.8% consumed grape fruit, lemon (5.1%) and lime (5.5%); 2-3 times per week.  Moreover, 67.2% of the respondents purchase their fruits from neighborhood market while only 2.6% patronize grocery stores. The regression result revealed that educational status of the respondents as well as their monthly income significantly (p<0.05) increases fruit consumption. The most limiting constraint to fruit and vegetable consumption was inadequate storage facilities (27.4%). In essence, staff of agricultural based institutions should be sensitized on increasing their fruits consumption. Also, they should be enlightened on appropriate short term storage methods to improve the shelf-life of fruits they purchase for consumption.

Keywords: Fruits, consumption pattern, fruit preference, mode of consumption, constraints.