Phytochemicals, Mineral Elements and Antioxidants Evaluation of Some Commonly Consumed Desert Fruits

Abstract

The medicinal properties of fruits are closely related to their available phytochemicals, as well as antioxidant capacity. Many of the indigenous fruits have been traditionally used as folk medicine. This study aims to evaluate the phytochemicals, mineral elements, and antioxidant properties of five (5) commonly consumed desert fruits such as Hyphaene thebaica, Detarium senegalensce, Ziziphus jujuba, Dialium guineense and Diospyros mespiliformis. The phytochemicals, mineral elements, and antioxidants were carried out using standard methods of analysis. The result revealed that phytochemicals such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, saponins, steroids, terpenoids, and glycosides were present in all five fruits studied with varied compositions. While the mineral elements such as Potassium (K), Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Sodium (Na), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), and Copper (Cu) were present indicated that the fruits have substantial mineral elements, however, varied according to the fruits species studied, Hyphaene thebaica exhibits the highest elemental content. The DPPH inhibition properties emphasize the diverse antioxidant capabilities of the studied fruits in which Diospyrosme spiliformis (DS) emerges as a standout in DPPH inhibition activity, exhibiting robust antioxidant activity, closely followed by Dialium guineense (DG). The nitric oxide radical scavenging reveals a concentration-dependent response in the NO radicals scavenging activity for all the fruits and ascorbic acid. The findings conclude that the five desert fruits species revealed different phyto-constituents, mineral elements, Nitric oxide radical scavenging effect, and DPPH inhibition properties suggesting potential medicinal and nutritional properties of the five desert fruits.