Elemental And Proximate Bioprofiling Of Schweinfurthia Papilionacea (L.) BOISS As A Potential Nutraceutical Biocandidate
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69980/ajpr.v28i1.505Keywords:
atomic absorption spectrometry, fatty acids, minerals, nutrition, Schweinfurthia papilionacea.Abstract
The current research studies the nutritional profile of Schweinfurthia papilionacea that belongs to the Scrophulariaceae family, which may be applied in food area, pharmaceuticals, and even nutraceuticals. The atomic absorption spectrometry technique of elemental analysis displayed high levels of essential macro and micronutrients, such as calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), potassium (K), and manganese (Mn), with maximum accumulation of the Ca constituent (37.43%) in the entire plant constituents. Fatty acid profiling of methanol and chloroform extracts showed both saturated (palmitic, stearic and arachidic acids) and unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids) indicating adaptive physiological functions and metabolic diversity of the plant. Proximate analysis revealed good values of crude fat (up to 51. 06% in stems), relative crude protein (13. 87 in leaves) and ash (13. 05 in leaves) confirming that the plant has high nutritional value. The results indicate the prospect of S. papilionacea in being a useful dietary source of minerals and fatty acids and can hence be developed as a food or diet supplement. Nonetheless, the presence of heavy metals in the soil at a very low concentration like lead, cadmium, necessitates the need to conduct environmental monitoring throughout the process of cultivation. Altogether, the research indicates the potential of the inclusion of S. papilionacea in therapeutic products in health promotion and the necessity to focus on long-standing solutions to micronutrient deficiencies.
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