Abstract
The study compared mineral, chemical and antioxidant qualities of Cleome gynandra, a wild leafy vegetable, with two widely consumed commercial vegetables, Brassica oleracea and Beta vulgaris. Mineral nutrients were quantified with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), phenolic compounds using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (UHPLC-MS) and β-carotene and vitamin C using high performance liquid chromatography with a photodiode array detector (HPLC-PDA). The antioxidant potential was evaluated using 2,2–diphenyl−1–picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assays. Cleome gynandra had highest concentrations of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, ascorbic acid, total phenolics, and flavonoids; whereas sodium, magnesium, manganese, copper and β-carotene were higher for B. vulgaris. The significantly higher antioxidant activity (P ≤ 0.05) exhibited by C. gynandra in comparison to the two commercial vegetables may be due to its significantly high levels of vitamin C and phenolic acids. These findings on the mineral, chemical and antioxidant properties of C. gynandra provide compelling scientific evidence of its potential in adding diversity to the diet and contributing toward the daily nutritional requirements of millions of people for food and nutritional security.
Highlights
IntroductionCleome gynandra L. (common names: Shona cabbage, spider plant, African cabbage or cat’s whiskers) is a widely consumed wild leafy vegetable, which belongs to the Cleomaceae family
Cleome gynandra L. is a widely consumed wild leafy vegetable, which belongs to the Cleomaceae family
The content of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron and zinc were significantly higher in C. gynandra compared to both B. vulgaris and B. oleracea
Summary
Cleome gynandra L. (common names: Shona cabbage, spider plant, African cabbage or cat’s whiskers) is a widely consumed wild leafy vegetable, which belongs to the Cleomaceae family. (common names: Shona cabbage, spider plant, African cabbage or cat’s whiskers) is a widely consumed wild leafy vegetable, which belongs to the Cleomaceae family. It is an erect and branched herbaceous plant, which grows wild in southern Africa (van Rensburg et al, 2004), East Africa as well as South Asia (Bala et al, 2010; Cernansky, 2015). Nutritional Qualities of Cleome gynandra is traditionally harvested from the veld or semi-cultivated in subSaharan Africa (van Rensburg et al, 2004; Habwe et al, 2009; Gao et al, 2011). Based on its high visibility in scientific literature, C. gynandra is fast emerging as one of the most widely consumed “super vegetables” (Cernansky, 2015), especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia
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