Abstract
This study was carried out to determine the essential oil components, protein qualities, fatty acid composition, and free radical scavenging potentials of leaves of Cola lepidota K. Schum. (Malvaceae) and Irvingia gabonensis (Aubry-Lecomte ex O'Rorke) Baill. (Irvingiaceae) using chromatographic and spectrophotometric methods. Thirty five bioactive components were isolated from C. lepidota leaves with myrcene, phytol, ephedrine, hexadecanoic acid, and 1,14-tetradecanediol as the main compounds while phytol, 2-furancarboxaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-, 1-hexadecyne, carotene, and humulene were the predominant components of the I. gabonensis leaves. Leucine and arginine were the predominant essential amino acids, whereas glutamic acid and serine were the main non-essential amino acids in both leaves. The total amino acid (TAA) (70.92 g/100g), total non-essential amino acid (TNEAA) (45.87 g/100 g), and total acidic amino acid (TAAA) (23.01 g/100 g) of C. lepidota were high whereas I. gabonensis recorded higher Total essential amino acid (TEAA) (28.98 g/100 g), total aromatic amino acid (TArAA) (7.21 g/100 g), total branched chain amino acid (TBCAA) (14.28 g/100g), predicted protein efficiency ratios (P-PERs), and essential amino acid index (EAAI). C. lepidota contained 55.72% of unsaturated fatty acids, with predominance of linolenic and linoleic acids, while I. gabonensis produced 74.46% of saturated fatty acids, having myristic, lauric, and palmitic acid as the main compounds. All the radical scavenging potentials of both leaves were concentration dependent and produced higher DPPH, hydrogen peroxide, and ABTS radical scavenging potentials than the standards. This study has thus provided the scientific backing for the inclusion of both leaves for dietary and therapeutic purposes.
Highlights
The paucity of information, and non existence of a database for properties of local foods and fruits, are major contributors to the under-exploitation of some of the available medicinal plants in nature (Grivetti and Ogle, 2000).in Nigeria, many local fruits and leaves are underutilized and could face extinction
Identification and preparation Freshly harvested leaves of C. lepidota, and I. gabonensis were obtained from farmlands at Mbaise in Imo State Nigeria
The leaves were identified by the botanist at Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology (DPSB), Imo State University Owerri and the voucher specimen deposited in the DPSB herbarium
Summary
The paucity of information, and non existence of a database for properties of local foods and fruits, are major contributors to the under-exploitation of some of the available medicinal plants in nature (Grivetti and Ogle, 2000).in Nigeria, many local fruits and leaves are underutilized and could face extinction. The paucity of information, and non existence of a database for properties of local foods and fruits, are major contributors to the under-exploitation of some of the available medicinal plants in nature (Grivetti and Ogle, 2000). In other words, proposing a return to the investigation of local plants holds the key to the adequate provision of nutrients, and other bioactive components for the populace. Of such underexploited plants, are the leaves of Cola lepidota K. C. lepidota known as the monkey kola, is one of the members of the Cola species, and the Family Malvaceae that bear sweet edible fruits. The leaves of this plant have been surprisingly overlooked in terms of nutritional and ethnomedicinal applications
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