Chemical and Technological Studies on Some Medicinal Plants

Abstract

This study indicate the importance of some wild medicinal plants such as milk thistle seed and chicory seed. Therefore , chemical characteristies such as crude protein, ether extract, crude fiber, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamin C and minerals contents were determined. Also ,the antioxidative properties such as phenolic compounds and flavonoid compounds and scavenging activity on DPPH free radicals were also determined. Moreover ,the possibility to use these seeds in biscuit production, where the utilization of milk thistle seed flour and chicory seed flour as replacers of wheat flour at different levels (5, 10, and 15%) to prepare biscuits rich in protein and minerals, as well as organoleptic evaluation of prepared biscuits and firmness values were also investigated. Results indicated that milk thistle seed and chicory seed have high amount of protein, ether extract, crude fiber, minerals content, vitamin C, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds (antioxidants) which, could be used as alternative natural source for synthetic antioxidants in industry.. The major unsaturated fatty acids in milk thistle seed and chicory seed oil are oleic and linoleic. The essential and nonessential amino acids are more abundant in milk thistle seed and chicory seed protein. Sensory evaluation of the obtained products indicated that successful replacement was 10% of both seeds. So , it could be recommended to use the investigated plant seeds in biscuit production for its nutritional concept and antioxidative effects. For these reasons, we must take in consideration to cultivate these plants on a large scale to take their advantages of their therapeutic and nutritional. Milk thistle (S. marianum L. Gaertn.) is cultivated as a medicinal plant but it can also be a troublesome weed (Khan et al., 2009) Milk thistle is an annual or biennial plant belongs to the family Asteraceae (Compositae), the plant is native to Mediterranean area and now has spread to other warm and dry regions (Li et al., 2012). Now silybum marianum is one of the most medicinal plants, the plant has many common names such as, bull thistle, heal thistle, holy thistle, lady's thistle, pig leaves, royal thistle, snake milk, so thistle, St.Mary's thistle, Venus thistle, Marian thistle, Mary thistle, mild thistle, milk ipecac, our lady's thistle (Corchete, 2008). Seed flour is a primary by-product from seed oil production and is often discarded as waste, this flour may contain many health beneficial components such as natural antioxidant and protein (Parry et al., 2008). Silymarin content of milk thistle seed ranged from 4 to 6% based on dry weight (Khalil,2008). Silymarin is the most commonly used herbal product for chronic liver disease (Freedman et al., 2011). Abd Raboh, (2012) revealed that the seed of milk thistle contained high amounts of protein (27.54%), ether extract (29.68%) and crude fiber (29.95%) on dry weight basis, also the seed had antioxidant properties due to its content of phenolics, flavonoids, saponins, silymarin and ascorbic acid. Chicory (Cichorium i...

Effect of Fortification Breadsticks with Milk Thistle Seeds Powder on Chemical and Nutritional Properties

“…In general, all formulas enriched with MTSP are acceptable for the sensorial attributions. These results agree with [29] reported that addition of MTSP to WF at extent 5, 10 and 15% of biscuits was acceptable for the sensory evaluation. Shahat, et al [13] showed that the realized specifications of balady bread not affected by addition MTSP at 9%.…”

“…The for crude protein, 23.12% for ether extract, 4.98 for ash and 30.33% for crude fibre [29]. WF 72% extraction comprised 11.38% crude protein, 0.82% fat, 0.45% ash and 86.79% total carbohydrates [30].…”

“…Rosell et al, [35] stated that the differences in water absorption is principally caused by numerous hydroxyl groups existing in the fibres and allows more water interaction through hydrogen bonding. [29] revealed that MTSP contain 880 mg / 100 g for Ca, 750 mg / 100 g for P, 400 mg / 100 g for K, 40 mg / 100 g for Na,65.50 mg / 100 g for Fe, 2.21 mg / 100 g for Mn and 3.76 mg / 100 g for Zn.…”