Fatty Acid and Amino Acid Composition of two Wild Plants used as Medicine in Nigeria

Abstract

Medicinal plants have been used to treat certain disease conditions for centuries. Thus, fatty acids and amino acids composition of leaves of two wild (glyphae brevis and solanum erianthum) plants used for herbal treatment of some diseases were analysed. The results showed presence of numerous saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in both plants. The following fatty acids: alpha linolenic acid C18:3 (26.532%; 25.110%), gamma linolenic acid C- 18:3 (25.561%; 26.145%), palmitic acid C16:0 (22.422%; 22.534%) and linolenic acid C18:2(17.108%; 17.058%) were found in relatively higher amount for glyphae brevis and solanum erianthum respectively. The study also revealed that the two plants contain numerous essential and non-essential amino acids. In glyphae brevis, glutamate was found to occur in relatively higher concentration (14.465mg/g), followed by aspartate (10.65mg/g), alanine (6.2937mg/g). serine (4.3310mg/g), glycine (4.2118mg/g) etc. For essential amino acids, lysine (9.702mg/g), leucine (8.9831 mg/g) and arginine (6.5526mg/g) were present. Other amino acids were found in insignificant quantities. The concentrations of essential amino acids ranged between 4.6484 mg/g to 1.1150 mg/g. Similarly, the non-essential amino acid content of Solanum erianthum ranged between 14.4624 mg/g to 1.5827 mg/g recorded for glutamate and cysteine respectively. Furthermore, the essential amino acids content ranged between 7.7231 mg/g to 1.0375 mg/g, measured for leucine and tryptophan respectively. The two wild plants were found to contain numerous fatty acids and amino acids and hence their efficacy in traditional therapeutic purposes.