Evaluation of nutritional and mineral constituents of selected Acacia species found in Junagadh, Gujarat

Abstract

In the present work, the quantification of some important micro and mega elements from leaves, bark and root zone soil of Acacia sp. have been conducted. For elemental analysis, a total of five Acacia species were selected, viz., A. leucophloea, A. nilotica, A. Senegal, A. catechu and A. tortilis. This study revealed that the A. nilotica root zone soil is rich in minerals and nutrition compared to other selected Acacia Sp. The chloride, calcium and magnesium concentrations were 0.15 meq.g−100, 0.47 meq.g−100 and 0.18meq.g−100; respectively. The quantity of sodium was 0.14 meq.g−100. Total organic carbon (%) and total organic matter (%) were 0.74 and 1.2 in A. nilotica root zone soil, which is higher than the other 5 Acacia species. Among selected Acacia sp. leaves of the A. nilotica leaves are a rich source of mineral content (calcium concentration is 0.46 meq.g−1, 0.55 and 0.11 meq. g−1 are sodium and potassium concentration). A. tortilis leaves contained a higher level of chloride concentration (0.18 meq.g−1) and electrical conductivity than the other selected Acacia species. Bark of Acacia sp., showed that A. leucophloea and A. senegal bark are rich sources of minerals and nutrition. As a result, the current study revealed that plants are useful not only for their medicinal therapeutic value, but also as a new source of nutrition supplement.