Abstract

Author:
Adesolasi Bridget Adeola, Funmilayo Temidayo Azeez, Clement Oluwafemi Osowe, Olufemi Adesanya Adu, and Gbenga Emmanuel Onibi

Doi: 10.26480/sfna.01.2024.75.79

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

The objective of this study is to ascertain the mineral content, phytochemical profile, antioxidant activity, and proximate composition of powdered Acalypha wilkesiana leaf powder (AWLP). A. wilkesiana fresh leaves were gathered, cleaned with purified water, drained, dried in the shade, ground into a powder, and examined. In AWLP, the fat content is the lowest at 4.25%, and the carbohydrate level is rather high at 52.41%. AWLP contains flavonoids (36.50 mg/g), alkaloids (28.77 mg/g), tannins (10.36 mg/g), phytates (33.87 mg/g), saponins (44.88 mg/g), anthraquinones (20.34 mg/g), and cardiac glycosides (8.79 mg/g). The phenol content of AWLP is comparatively high (170.37 mg/g). 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), vitamin C, and 2, 2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) were used to measure the antioxidant activities. The results were 62.72%, 100.92 mg of vitamin C, 35.75 mg of vitamin C, and 61.61%, respectively. The concentrations of Fe, Ca, K, and P in AWLP are 8.26 ppm, 42.8 ppm, 39.09 ppm, and 407.65 ppm, respectively. AWLP contains significant levels of phytochemicals with high antioxidant activity and could serve as a natural feed/food supplement in animal and human nutrition.