Characterization of Some Edible Medicinal Plant Parts for Metal Contents and Nutritious Chemical Constituents

Abstract

The fruits, seeds, pulps and leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus citriodora, Gmelina arborea, Parkia biglobosa and Jatropha gossypifolia were differently investigated and characterized for proximate constituents, metals and fatty acids with a view to evaluating their dietary potentials. Results obtained show that all the plant parts contained nutritious chemical compounds. The ranges of the proximate constituents on dry weight basis (g/100g) are: moisture (5.99-10.90), ash (1.92-8.79), crude fibre (9.49-25.16), crude protein (3.07-11.38), crude fat (4.01-7.48) and carbohydrate (40.69-66.08). The mineral contents of the various plant parts in mg/100g are: Fe (1.03-912.90), Cu (1.50-58.50), Mn (10.20-451.50), Mg (156.60-166.20), K (31.20-374.70) and Zn (1.80-396.00). The fatty acids profile of the various plant parts showed different percentages of saturated (12.38-19.11), monounsaturated (17.46-42.07) and polyunsaturated (18.66-45.14) fatty acids. It is observed that the chemical compounds in the medicinal plants could be of complementary dietary advantages.