Nutritional Potential of the Leaves of <i>Acalypha wilkesiana</i> ‘Godseffiana’ Muell Arg

Abstract

The proximate and phytochemical composition of the leaves of Acalypha wilkesiana Muell Arg was investigated. The proximate composition includes moisture (57.60%), crude fibre (21.66% wet weight and 51.08% dry weight), total carbohydrate (12.50% wet weight and 29.48% dry weight), crude protein (3.94% wet weight and 9.29% dry weight), total ash (3.90% wet weight and 9.20% dry weight), crude fat (0.40% wet weight and 0.94% dry weight) and caloric value of (69.36% wet weight and 163.58% dry weight). The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, carotenoids, flavonoids (catechins and flavones), saponins and tannins; with 19.05mg/100g wet weight and 44.93mg/100g wry weight carotenoids, 7.15mg/100g wet weight and 16.86mg/100g dry weight saponins, and 1.82mg/100g wet weight and 4.29mg/100g dry weight tannins. This result support the medicinal use of the plant, and in addition, unveils the possibility of its acting as a potential source of food nutrients and nutraceuticals. @ JASEM

Comparative Study of Phytochemical Constituents and Antimicrobial Activities of Acalypha wilkesiana and Acalypha godseffiana Extracts

“…1). This has been observed earlier by [18,19] and may be due to differences in their species chemical constituents. The presence of various secondary metabolites in the plants' extract justify their medicinal use.…”

“…The result of the quantitative phytochemical screening of the two species of Acalypha is presented in Table 1 where flavonoid, saponin, phobatanin, tannin and alkaloid were found in both A. wilkesiana and A. goddsefiana, Steroid was found only in A. wilkesiana while Terpenoid and anthraquinones were not detected in the two species of Acalypha screened. Earlier report of differences in the phytochemical has been reported by [18] who carried out a phytochemical and morphometric Analysis of the Genus Acalypha Linn. (Euphorbiaceae).…”

Antidiabetic activity and phytochemical screening of Acalypha wilkesiana (Euphorbiaceae) Mull Arg. roots in alloxan-induced diabetic rats

“…Phytochemical screening of the MEAW showed the mg/100 g). Similar phytoconstituents have been obtained from the leaves of this plant (Ikewuchi et al, 2010). Flavonoids are known for their diverse biological activities including hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities resulting from their antioxidant activity (Afanas'ev et al, 1995).…”

“…The common names are copperleaf, Joseph's coat, fire dragon, beef steak plant and matchme-if-you-can (Christman, 2004). The Hausas of Northern Nigeria call it "Jiwene" and "Jinwinini", while the Yorubas of Southern Nigeria call it "aworoso" (Ikewuchi et al, 2010). Aqueous leaf extract of A. wilkesiana is traditionally used to treat neonatal jaundice in western part of Nigeria on short-term basis.…”

Histological and Aminotransferase Implications of Administration of Extracts of Acalypha wilkesiana Leaves in Normal Rabbits

“…The leaves are squeezed into water and the resulting solution drunk to treat diarrhoea and dysentery, while the fresh leaf juice is drunk for laryngitis. Acalypha wilkesiana leaves have been reported to be biologically active [5][6][7] due to its phytochemical, proximate and elemental composition [7][8][9][10][11].…”