Abstract
Plant derived phytochemicals have recently became of great importance in the protection of various diseases, like heart disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, cataract and age related functional disorders caused by free radicals. The present study was carried out to explore the commonly used vegetables having higher content of antioxidant imparting phytochemicals such as ascorbic acid, carotenoids, total phenolic content, carbohydrate and protein content in commonly used vegetables. The results revealed that the concentration among tested samples ranged from 7.07 mg/100g of FW (Momardica charantia leaf) to 174.15 mg/100g of FW (Allium sativum leaf) for ascorbic acid; 1.31 µg/g of FW (Chenopodium album leaf) to 14.00 µg/g of FW (Allium sativum leaf ) for carotenoid content; 8.72 mg of GAE/g of DW (Cucurbita maxima fruit) to 67.20 mg/g of DW (Colocasia esculentum leaf) for total phenolic content; 27.15 mg/g (Laginaria vulgaris leaf) to 901.00 mg/g (Cucurbita maxima fruit) for carbohydrate content and 35.96 mg/g (Amarphophyllus fruit) to 589.23 mg/g (Beta vulgaris fruit) for protein content. Results also showed that these bioactive phytochemicals are widely distributed in the vegetables and their concentrations are variable in different vegetables as well as vegetable part’s itself. Hence, vegetable rich diet having higher content of phytochemicals can be used to cure or in the prevention of various chronic diseases such as hepatotoxicity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, oxidative stress etc and may serve as a good source of nutraceuticals which have potential for use in health care formulations.Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 6(2): 97-102
Highlights
Vegetables are rich source of important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and other important components such as phytochemicals
The higher value of ascorbic acid content was present in Allium sativum leaf, Momardica charantia fruit and Colocasia esculentum leaf to the extent of 174.15, 165.99 and 117.01 mg/100g of fresh weight, respectively
The moderate ascorbic acid content present in Brassica oleracea fruit, Laginaria vulgaris leaf, Anethum graveolens leaf, Amarphophyllus leaf, Cucurbita maxima leaf, Beta vulgaris leaf, Rumex dentatus leaf, Chenopodium album leaf, Laginaria vuilgaris fruit, Solanum tuberosum fruit, Allium sativum fruit, Beta vulgaris fruit, Lycopersican esculentum fruit and Cucurbita maxima fruit are in the range of 69.38 to17.69mg/100g of fresh weight
Summary
Vegetables are rich source of important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and other important components such as phytochemicals. The whole part of vegetables or its parts such as root, stem, leaf, flower, fruit, and even seed can be used for cooking or consumption. There are several studies that indicate, high consumption of vegetable had an inverse relationship with the incidence of degenerative diseases including heart diseases (Hertog et al, 1993), cancer (Block et al, 1992; Byers and Perry, 1992), inflammation (Giugliano et al, 2006; Rahman et al, 2006) and brain dysfunction (Trewavas and Stewart, 2003). Free radicals (having unpaired electron) can cause oxidative damage to naturally occurring biomolecules, resulting in various type
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