Proximate composition, phytochemical and mineral contents of young and mature Polyalthia longifolia Sonn.leaves
Proximate composition, phytochemical and mineral composition of young and mature Polyalthia longifolia Sonn. leaves were investigated using standard analytical procedures. Young leaves of Polyalthia longifolia contained 9% protein, 4% ash, 0.21% lipid, 25% fibre, 8% moisture and 54% carbohydrate w...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Fountain University Osogbo
2014-12-01
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| Series: | Fountain Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences (FUJNAS) |
| Online Access: | https://www.fountainjournals.com/index.php/FUJNAS/article/view/20 |
| Summary: | Proximate composition, phytochemical and mineral composition of young and mature Polyalthia longifolia Sonn. leaves were investigated using standard analytical procedures. Young leaves of Polyalthia longifolia contained 9% protein, 4% ash, 0.21% lipid, 25% fibre, 8% moisture and 54% carbohydrate while the mature leaves contained 10% protein, 5% ash, 0.26% lipid, 19% fibre, 9% moisture and 57% carbohydrates. The results for the quantitative phytochemicals revealed that the young leaves contained 3.91 (ppm) tannins, 0.34 (ppm) phenols and 62% flavonoids with the mature samples showing a relative result of 3.69 (ppm) tannins, 0.33 (ppm) phenols and 63% flavonoids. The mineral analysis of both samples showed that they contained appreciable quantities of minerals with the mature sample having higher concentrations of Na (30.03 mg/100 g), K (23.55 mg/100 g), Ca (89.18 mg/100 g) and Mg (27.55 mg/100 g) relative to Na (20.30 mg/100 g), K (16.93 mg/100 g), Ca (57.03 mg/100 g) and Mg (14.48 mg/100 g) found in the young leaves. The study showed that the leaves examined contained high levels of carbohydrates and fibre, low fat and phenols but very rich in minerals. These findings suggest that the leaves of Polyalthia longifoli a might be a potential source of carbohydrates, fibre, phytochemicals and mineral elements for human and animal use.
Keywords: Proximate composition, minerals, phytochemicals, Polyalthia longifolia
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| ISSN: | 2350-1863 2354-337X |