Comparison of Phytochemical Compositions of Sorghum Bicolor (L) Moench Red Flour and Pale Brown Leaves

Abstract

The grains have numerous benefits ranging from nutritional, chemical, pharmaceutical and food colorant [1,[3][4][5][6].In the USA, the cereal is used primarily for feeding animals and possibly ethanol production [7]. Although these uses of the grains are widely known, the leaf especially the pale brown type also have many potential uses which have not been exploited in the past partly because of lack of characterization of the leaf constituents and availability of ethnomedical information across countries. Furthermore, in Northern Ghana, the traditional folks use the leaves as herbal medicine for management of diseases such as anemia and iron deficiency [6].Scientific information on phytochemical compounds composition of the Red S. bicolor pale brown leaves consumed in some African countries by humans and animals is scarce. Based on the numerous folk medicine benefits that the red Sorghum bicolor pale leaves provide to consumers in some West African countries (e.g., Ghana), a thorough characterization of the different stages of the color of the S. bicolor leaves used in different food preparations, herbs and feed formulations is warranted. In this present study, the levels of the phenolic acids, flavonoids, condensed tannins, chlorophylls, carotenoids, and fatty acid composition in the red Sorghum bicolor pale leaves were compared to the flour made from the sorghum grains that is used by people in Africa (especially in Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Burkina Faso). Materials and Methods Samples collection and preparation of extractsSorghum bicolor (L) Moench pale brown dry leaves and sorghum gains were obtained from the upper east region (Bolgatanga) of Ghana. The pale leaves were harvested prior to complete maturations of the seeds, this part of the leave is different from the red leaves in that, the red leaves occur when the plant completely matures and ready for harvesting. Flour was made from the grain, and the pale leaves were ground using a coffee miller and sieved with a particle size less than 2mm for sub sampling for the various assays according to Abugri et al. [6]. All samples were stored in amber bottles prior to analysis.All chemicals were of HPLC and ACS grade. Epigallocatechin, naringenin and apigenin were obtained from Santa Cruz biotechnology Inc. Santa Cruz, California, USA. Gallic acid, vallic acid, salicylic acids, Folin-Ciocalteu reagents were obtained from Sigma Aldrich USA.A total of 30.0mL was used for extraction of compounds with a solvent mixture (Acetone: Hexane (HPLC grade)) in a ratio of 4:6. Methanol (LC-MS, HPLC, Spectrophotometry grade) and ethanol (99.9% AC reagent (2000 proof) all purchased from Fisher scientific, USA, were added to each test tube with 0.300g sample of flour or powdered leaves. The tubes were capped tightly with Teflon caps and incubated at 30°C for 20mins according to the procedure of Abugri et al., [6]. Samples were vortexed for 3mins and then centrifuged for 5mins using a clinical AbstractThere are increasing demands in plant derived natural food and their bioacti...