Chemical Profile of Tridax procumbens Linn


Authors

  • C. Ikewuchi Jude Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  • C. Ikewuchi Catherine Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  • M. Igboh Ngozi Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Abia State University, P.M.B. 2000, Uturu, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2009.548.550

Keywords:

Chemical profile, proximate composition, Tridax procumbens

Abstract

The proximate, mineral and phytochemical composition of T. procumbens was investigated. The proximate profile included moisture (90.05±0.00%), crude protein (3.44±0.00% WW and 34.57±0.00% DW), crude fat (0.60±0.02% WW and 6.03±0.20%), total carbohydrate (5.10±0.02% WW and 51.26±0.20% DW), crude fibre (0.61±0.04% WW and 6.13±0.40% DW), total metabolizable energy value (39.56±0.26kcal/100 g WW and 397.59±2.61kcal/100 g DW) and a total ash content of 0.20±0.02% WW and 2.01±0.20% DW, which is rich in sodium (5.02 mg/100 g WW and 50.44 mg/100 g DW), potassium (3.18 mg/100 g WW and 31.92 mg/100 g DW) and calcium (2.09 mg/100 g WW and 20.96 mg/100 g DW). The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, carotenoids, flavonoids (catechins and flavones), saponins and tannins. It is richly endowed with carotenoids (9.41 mg/100 g WW and 94.57 mg/100 g DW) and saponins (10.30mg/100g WW and 103.52mg/100g DW). This result suggests the likelihood of this plant serving as a potential source of protein supplements and pro vitamin A (carotenoids) to the population. It also indicates that dehydration can improve the nutritional quality of Tridax procumbens.

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Published

15.04.2009

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 5 (2009)

Section

Research Article

License

Copyright (c) 2009 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

How to Cite

Jude, C. I., Catherine, C. I., & Ngozi, M. I. (2009). Chemical Profile of Tridax procumbens Linn. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 8(5), 548–550. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2009.548.550