Nutritional Qualities and Phytochemical Compositions of Solenostemon monostachyus (Family Lamiaceae)

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional qualities and phytochemical constituents of Solenostemon monostachyus (SM) , a tropical non-conventional vegetable. The leaves of Solenostemon monostachyus were collected from Woji town in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, South-South Nigeria. The leaves were removed, cleaned and air dried at 28^oC for 28days and then ground into powdered form. The powder was used for proximate, mineral, vitamins and phytochemical analysis. Proximate analysis revealed that the leaves of SM contained in percentage, carbohydrate (71.83±0.0), protein (10.11±0.0), ash (9.03±0.4), fibre (5.20±0.1) and fat (2.26±0.3). Among all the eight minerals and six vitamins analysed, potassium (1170.11mg/kg) and vitamin C (420mg/kg) respectively were the most abundant, calcium (22.57mg/kg), magnesium (34.49mg/kg), vitamin A (9.27mg/kg), vitamin B₆ (4.93mg/kg), vitamin E (12.35mg/kg) were found in lower concentrations, while others were found in trace quantities. Phytochemical analysis of the leaves showed in percentage the presence of tannins (4.66±0.02), saponins (14.82±0.31), alkaloids (19.69±0.31), flavonoids (14.77±0.22), cyanogenic glycosides (0.53±0.12) and phytate (2.10±0.00).

Keywords: Proximate, mineral, vitamin, phytochemical, analysis, Solenostemon monostachyus