Ifeanyi Peter Onyeka*, Felix Ahamefule Onyegbule, Christopher Obodike Ezugwu and Chioma Ukwe Ibe
Background:Mallotus oppositifolius is a medicinal herb popular in Nigeria and African countries, consumed as a food thickener known as “Ukpo” among the Igbos.The leaf of this plant is widely used for the treatment of diseases such as infection, ulcer, and wound healing, with a paucity of data on its nutraceutical potentials.This study evaluated the phytochemicals and nutrient composition of Mallotus oppositifolius methanol leaf extracts. The fresh Mallotus oppositifolius leaves wereharvested from their habitat in Amawbia in June 2018, identified, air dried, milled, and extracted with methanol using cold maceration. The extract was concentrated to dryness and kept until required. The dried methanol extract was subjected to phytochemical analysis while the powder of the leaf was evaluated for proximate,minerals, and vitamins profile using a standard Laboratory procedure.
Results: The result showed that Mallotus oppostifollous contain alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, phlobatanins, saponins, steroids, proteins, carbohydrates,anthraquinones, reducing sugars, and anthocyanins while terpenoids were absent. The result further showed that M. oppostifollous contained appreciably high amount of essential nutrients: Protein (24.07%), Carbohydrates (54.7%), Fibre (10.59%), Fat (6%), magnesium (7.8 mg), Calcium (79.947 mg), Iron (0.107 mg), Manganese (0.703 mg), Zinc (0.587 mg) and high amount of essential vitamins such as Pyridoxine (8.150 mg), Biotin (4.940 mg), Ascorbic acid (0.920 mg), Retinol (0.837 mg), and Riboflavin (0.580 mg).
Conclusion: , which could be exploited as a food source for preventing malnutrition and in food fortification for malnourished children.
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