Chrysophyllum cainito is a lesser-known fruit with several medicinal applications. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, GC/GC-MS. Twenty components were identified in the essential oil, the oil was characterized by a high proportion of fatty acids (69.37%) represented by pyruvic acid, 10-hendecenoic acid, E-9-tetradecenoic acid, pentadecanoic acid, hexodecacanoic acid, and cis-9-octadecenoic acid. The oil yield was 0.19 v/w of the wet sample and its compositional profile showed markedly qualitative and quantitative variation with essential oil from Cuba. This essential oil was seen to be active against gram-positive bacteria, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Samonella typhimurium, and Proteus mirabilis, and also gram-negative bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus agalactia.
Five mineral composition (macro element) and proximate composition of the mesocarp of the three common varieties of Terminalia catappa were investigated using standard analytical procedure with a view to evaluating their nutritional potential. The proximate composition of the fruit samples revealed the moisture content 4.81±0.01 to 7.48±0.002, Crude protein; 5.21±0.08 to 6.94±0.08, Crude fibre; 17.27±0.01 to 55.77± 0.004, Crude Fat; 3.66±0.001 to 7.66±0.002, ash; 2.05±0.01 to 7.14±0.01 and nitrogen free extract 25.77±0.04 to 54.79±0.02. The mineral content of the three samples indicated that P, Na, Ca, Mg and K are the most abundant of the five minerals examined. The study revealed that both the chemical composition and proximate composition are comparable with other fruits. Also, the three varieties do not vary much from each other. The representative anti nutritional factors-tannis and phytate was reported present at concentrations that may not pose health problems for human consumption. The study recommended that the three varieties are good for human consumption like other fruits.
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