NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION, CONSTITUENTS, AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF POWDER FRACTIONS OF FICUS DICRANOSTYLA MILDBREAD LEAVES

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Background and objective: The research on nutritional and health-benefiting compounds has increased in leafy vegetables such as Ficus dicranostyla.The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of sieved-based fractionation on nutrient content, polyphenolic components, and antioxidant activities of Ficus dicranostyla leaves powder.
 Methods: Dried leaves powder was sieved at three size classes (<125 µm, between 250 and 125µm, ≥ 250 µm) and unsieved powder was produced and characterized for proximate composition, minerals, total phenolic, and flavonoids contents, as well as antioxidant activity. Nutrient quantities were expressed in g/100g of crude leaves. 
 Results: Statistics resultsrevealed a significant difference among fractions composition, as well as antioxidant activity with DPPH and FRAP. Proteins (19.60-26.08), lipids (5.33-10.40), and ash (11.44 16.60) contents were increased in small size fractions, while carbohydrates (40.19-50.88) and fibers (9.08–15.04) contents were lowered. Similarly, minerals namely iron, copper, magnesium, and zinc increased (3.26-9.68, 9.09-24.41, 1.38-2.33, and 3.79-8.55 g/100 g, respectively). In addition, phenolic compounds and flavonoids, as well as antioxidant activity were also higher in smaller powder particles. The powder fraction of < 125 µm (smaller particle) showed the highest phenolic content and antioxidant activity, demonstrating the importance of sizing in the profitability of functional food ingredients.
 Conclusion: Data analysis clearly demonstrates that Ficus dicranostyla leaf powder could be recognized as a source of nutritive compounds and antioxidants. Ficus dicranostyla derived functional ingredients could be prepared for the nutritive purpose and oxidative stress-related disease prevention.
 
 Peer Review History: 
 Received: 3 July 2022; Revised: 13 August; Accepted: 8 September, Available online: 15 September 2022
 Academic Editor: Dr. Marwa A. A. Fayed, University of Sadat City, Egypt, maafayed@gmail.com
 UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. 
 Received file: Reviewer's Comments:
 Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.5/10
 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.0/10
 Reviewers:
 Dr. Sangeetha Arullappan, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia, sangeetha@utar.edu.my
 Ahmad Najib, Universitas Muslim Indonesia, Makassar, Indonesia, ahmad.najib@umi.ac.id
 Dr. Marwa A. A. Fayed, University of Sadat City, Egypt, maafayed@gmail.com
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