Comparative study of proximate, phytochemical and mineral compositions of edible plant fruits/seeds from Nigerian rainforest

Abstract

Proximate, phytochemical and mineral compositions of Aframomum melegueta, Dacryodes edulis, Dialium guineense, Gambeya albida and Garcinia kola were studied at Umudike, Nigeria. Fruits of these five plant species were collected in separately labeled and marked polythene bags at the rainforest at Umudike, Nigeria. The edible parts were separated from the non edible parts. The edible parts were put in labeled envelopes and dried in an oven set at 65 °C for 24 hours. The proximate, phytochemical and mineral compositions of each sample were analyzed at the laboratory of the Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Umudike. There were differences between species in the percent carbohydrate, ash, protein and fibre contents. All the fruits/seeds contained between 3.94 and 11.18 percent moisture, 26.67 and 89.92 percent carbohydrate and between 0.26 and 5.97 percent fat. Iron had a low concentration ranging from 36.43 to 117.83 mg/kg. Nickel and mercury were in trace amount in Dialium guineense and Aframomum melegueta. Calcium ranged from 0.06 to 2.56 mg/100 mg, magnesium ranged from 0.22 to 0.98 mg/100 mg, potassium ranged from 0.26 to 1.05 mg/100 mg, sodium ranged from 0.18 to 0.85 mg/100 mg and phosphorus ranged from 0.14 to 0.76 mg/100 mg. The order of lead contents is as follows: Garcinia kola > Aramomum melegueta > Dialuim guineense > Dacryodes edulis > Gambeya albida. It was concluded that little quantity of Aframomum melegueta, Dialium guineense, Gambeya albida and Garcinia kola should be taken when the need arises as these contain reasonable amount of copper, zinc, lead and mercury. These metals could have adverse effects on the liver and kidney of the consumers when a large quantity is taken.

In vitroAntimicrobial andin vivoLead Acetate Poison Abatement Study ofGarcinia kolaHeckel

“…The inhibition of the activity at higher concentrations of the extract was almost as effective as those of the standard antibiotics. This result concurs with previous studies on bitter cola and may be qualitatively attributed to the prevalence of flavonoids in the extract relative to other assayed phytochemicals [43][44][45]. Zehra et al [46] and Dah-Nouvlessounon et al [47] hinged the antimicrobial property of the extract of G. kola fruits on the interactive effect of constituent secondary metabolites [48].…”

“…While G. kola tree is widely distributed in many parts of Nigeria, it constitutes a paramount enterprise for agricultural settlements and is a common therapeutic in folk medical practice. There is, however, a limited body of knowledge on the other uses of this plant related to it ornamental, nutritional, construction and biotechnological value [26,43]. The study of the medicinal and traditional applications, pharmacopeia, biogeography, and phytochemical of G. kola are rife and mostly involve the uncoated fruits (bitter cola) rather than the coated ones [9,28,29].…”

“…The mechanism of the protection of the liver against the damaging effects of chronic lead acetate poison by bitter cola is still unclear. However, it may be attributed to the physiochemical processes of chelation and the membrane biochemistry [54,55,43]. The rat groups exposed to lead acetate poison and fed with either the non-supplemented feed or the bitter cola supplemented feed had decreased levels of alkaline phosphatase activity, which was higher in the negative group.…”

Assessment of the haematological indices of albino rats fed diets supplemented with jackfruit bulb, seed or a blend of bulb and seed

“…The fruit has been reported to be highly nutritious and beneficial to health (Morton, 1987;Deepak, 2012;Kadir et al, 2014). According to Kevat (2013), the seeds are rich in vitamin C and other anti-oxidants which could help to boost the immune system (immunostimulative) and enhance the proper working of the white blood cells in the body; they also contain iron which helps to combat anaemia.…”

“…They are generally low in calories, fat, sodium and cholesterol but high in micronutrients including provitamin A, vitamins E and K, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, iron, iodine, calcium and other minerals (Dike and Nnamdi, 2012;Syahida et al, 2012) as well as antioxidants which are known to prevent oxidative damage of important biological compounds by reactive oxygen species (Shi et al, 2001;Agboola, 2014;Donfack et al, 2014). A number of studies have associated high fruit consumption with low risk of some life-threatening disorders like coronary heart disease (CHD), diabetes mellitus, obesity and cancer (Donaldson, 2004;Williams et al, 2009;Erasto and Tshikalange, 2010;Asif, 2014).…”