Proximate composition, mineral, vitamins and antioxidant activities of Cymbopogon citratus /dc/ stapt (lemon grass) and Oregamun vulgare (linn) leaves extracts harvested in Jos, North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

There many factors that affects the physico-chemical features of plants, including, weather and climatic factors (lightintensity temperature, rainfall), pH, organic matter content, available nutrients etc. thus, the source of a plant plays a big role in its chemical and nutritive content. This study aimed to investigate the proximate composition, mineral, vitamins and antioxidant activities of Cymbopogoh citratus and Oregamun vulgare crude leave extracts (CCCLE and OVCLE), harvested in Zaramaganda, Jos, North-Central Nigeria. Fresh leaves of C. citratus and O. vulgare were harvested in Zaramaganda, Jos, North-Central Nigeria, prepared and extracted via cold water Soxhlet extraction. Chemical and nutritive composition of the two plant extracts were carried out by way of proximate analysis and atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) while antioxidant activity was determined by radical scavenging assay using DPPH (1,1-Diphenyl-2-pierylhydrazyl) as an artificial free radical activity. Proximate analysis revealed varied proportions of the content in the investigated plants. The highest % by mass was; moisture content 7.33%, crude protein 16.25% and crude fibre 1.78% respectively in OVCLE while ash (12.54%) and fat (23.54%) content were highest in CCCLE. Mineral analysis revealed higher concentration of calcium, sodium, potassium, zinc, manganese, and iron in CCCLE than OVCLE in mg/100 g. Similarly, the vitamin A, C and E content were highest in CCCLE than OVCLE in mg/g. The inhibitory concentration at fifty percent (IC50) values on the effect of aqueous extracts of OVCLE and CCCLE on DPPH scavenging activity showed that CCCLE (IC50=131.8 µg/mL) had the higher activity than OV (IC50=154.1 µg/mL) as compared to the standard, Ascorbic Acid (IC50=49.13 µg/mL). The crude aqueous extract of C. citratus and O. vulgare harvested from Zaramaganda, Jos, North-Central Nigeria are good source of Vitamins (A, C and E), Potassium, Sodium, Calcium, Zinc and little of Manganese and Iron, also with good moisture content, ash content, crude fibre, lipid content and crude fat values. Furthermore, both plants were moderate in reducing DPPH radical levels and thus suggested for cancer patients.