Assesment of Nurtritional Analysis of Bombax Buonopozense Found in Adamawa and Taraba States, Nigeria (Red Flowered Silk Cotton Tree)

Abstract

Bonbax Buonoponzense popularly known as red flower cotton silk tree found in Adamawa and Taraba was used for the study. The population of the study comprised of 120 respondent 60 each from the two-study area, this was based on the availability of the red flower cotton tree found in the study area. The study adopted an experimental designed with an oral interview. The material used was the red cotton flower which was picked, dried, and grounded to obtained a powder which was used for the proximate analysis at the department of biochemistry, University of Jos. For the purpose of determining its nutritional content, the nutritional components of the plant (leaves) was determined using proximate analytical procedures. The analysis unraveled the presence of six nutrients which comprises of the following: moisture content, crude fibre, crude lipids, crude protein, NFE, and ash. Nitrogen free extracts consisting of carbohydrates, sugars and starches was found to be the highest with 18.48 followed by crude fibre with 5%, crude lipids having 3.8%. crude protein with 2.8% The least of them all was found to be moisture with a value of 2%. It was concluded that, Carbohydrates hydrolyzed the body to yield glucose, Proteins as body builders, they replace worn out tissues, and proteins are also immune booster and can help in cell division as well as growth, Fats which are important in energy production and help to regulate blood pressure of vital cell parts, and fibres which are parts of fruits and vegetable. It could be deduced therefore that Bombax buonopozense leaves could be of great health benefit if well harnessed.