Tabiat Pengambilan Ulam-Ulaman di Kalangan Orang Dewasa Pelbagai Etnik di Selangor

A survey was conducted to investigate the level of consumption of ulam in Selangor State among 252 adults ( 17 years) (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 ± 13.9years. 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 of30-39 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.