ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1658078
Comprehensive Nutritional Compositions of Traditional Dishes from Five Saudi Regions Using Elizabeth Stewart Hands and Associates Food Processor Software
Provisionally accepted
- 1College of Applied Medical Sciences-Jeddah, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 2Umm Al-Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
- 3Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 4Al-Salama Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 5King Salman Specialized Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia
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Introduction: Comprehensive nutritional information on the recipes of traditional Saudi dishes, an integral part of the country's culinary heritage, is lacking. This study analyzed the nutritional composition of 25 commonly consumed traditional dishes from five Saudi Arabian regions using the Elizabeth Stewart Hands and Associates (ESHA) Food Processor Nutrition Analysis software. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted online using convenience sampling to identify commonly consumed traditional Saudi dishes. Overall, 360 individuals responded to the survey. Of these, follow-up phone interviews were conducted with 61 household recipe providers who had prepared the selected dishes at least five times in the past year and provided complete recipe data. Ingredients were weighed or converted to grams using food amount booklets. Nutrient values of the traditional dish recipes were estimated using the average of multiple recipes and software estimates per dish ( a total of 75 recipes, three recipes for each cuisine), accounting for variations in ingredient amounts and preparation methods. The nutrient data are presented per 100 g and portion size. Results: The nutritional compositions of the selected dish recipes varied. The moisture, protein, fat, fiber, and carbohydrate contents were 5.7%–80.4%, 3.4%–13.0%, 2.0%–13.3%, 0.26%–5.8%, and 5.9%–50.1%, respectively. The highest energy content per 100 g was found in Areekah (306.9 kcal) and the lowest was found in Margoug (89.2 kcal). Conclusion: Recipe-based ESHA estimation provided valuable insights into the nutritional value of traditional Saudi dish recipes, serving as a resource for dietary planning, public health initiatives, and future research. The nutritional profiles generated in this study may contribute to the development of accurate and culturally-appropriate dietary recommendations and exchange lists for Saudi Arabia.
Keywords: nutrient, traditional Saudi dishes, ESHA, Nutritional profile, Cross-sectional study
Received: 02 Jul 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Basaqr, Bakr, Ibrahim, Bujan, Alqasimi and Aljaadi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Reem Basaqr, reem.basaqr@gmail.com
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