Abstract
Medicinal plants include various types of plants used in herbalism or herbal medicine. It is the use of plants for medicinal purposes, and the study of such uses. The use of medicinal plants is gaining popularity all over the world; hence the need to exploit various plant that could be of economic importance to both man and animal. Centella asiatica is one of such plants that are underutilized. Therefore, investigating the chemical and elemental constituents of C. asiatica leaf meal is very vital. The phytochemical analyses, proximate composition, vitamin and mineral concentrations were determined using standard procedures. Considerable quantity of phytochemical compounds such as phenolic, saponin, flavonoids, phytate and tannin were determined and the values obtained for these components were 2.75, 8.20, 12.85, 0.76 and 0.0%, respectively. While for the proximate: 95.76, 2.77, 12.40, 2.80, 2.40 and 75.44% were obtained for dry matter, crude fiber, crude protein, ash, ether extract and carbohydrate. The leaf meal contains appreciable quantity of calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and sodium. Vitamins A, C and B6 are readily available in the leaf meal while E and B1 are not available. The nutrient composition of C. asiatica revealed that it contains some bioactive components which can serve as feed supplements in animal production and improve human health. Key words: Chemical analysis, Centella asiatica, vitamins, minerals, additives, proximate.
Highlights
Plants have been used for medicinal purposes long before prehistoric period
This plant grows wild in damp, shady places up to 7000 ft. and can be commonly seen along banks of rivers, streams, ponds, and irrigated fields. It grows along stone walls or other rocky areas at elevation of approximately 2000 ft. This plant is among the underutilized plant with few information on the chemical and proximate constituent to understand the roles played in human, animal nutrition and health, information on proximate, mineral, vitamin and phytochemical composition is crucial to the understanding of the mode of action of these medicinal plant in general
The value obtained in this study was 0.00% which was lower to the value of 3.03% obtained by Alagbe (2019) in C. asiatica leaf this might be due to difference in location, age of harvest, morphotypes of plant used for the study or extraction method
Summary
Plants have been used for medicinal purposes long before prehistoric period. These medicinal plants are used as food, flavonoid, medicine or perfume and in certain spiritual activities. It grows along stone walls or other rocky areas at elevation of approximately 2000 ft This plant is among the underutilized plant with few information on the chemical and proximate constituent to understand the roles played in human, animal nutrition and health, information on proximate, mineral, vitamin and phytochemical composition is crucial to the understanding of the mode of action of these medicinal plant in general. This will be useful for the nutritional and health education of the public as a means to improve their well-being. Atomic emission spectrophotometer technique was used to determine sodium content
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