Biochemical profiling of ‘toko’ (Livistona jenkinsiana griff.): An endangered underutilized fruit of north east India

Abstract

Livistona jenkinsiana Griff., an endangered multi-purpose palm, is mostly confined to north-eastern India, cultivated and conserved for its edible fruit and other parts by tribal farmers of the state of Arunachal Pradesh. However, the nutritional composition of fruit is not known. Therefore, proximate estimation and metabolite profiling of fruits of this palm were carried out using spectrophotometry, gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (LC-MS/MS). The major fatty acids were palmitic acid and oleic acid (approximately 45% and 33%, respectively). The purplish peel was due to malvidin (2032.6 μg/g), an anthocyanin. In the fruit pulp, the predominant sugar was fructose (158.7 μg/g); organic acid was citric acid (3856.2 μg/g); phenol was gentisic acid (660.8 μg/g); and flavonoid was rutin (115.8 μg/g). The bioactive compounds present in the fruit confer several health benefits, making L. jenkinsiana a potentially important species in terms of both nutrition and financial returns.