Phytonutrients Composition of Sour Soup Leaves from Five States in Nigeria

Abstract

This investigation was undertaken to examine the phytochemicals in the leaves of sour soup harvested from five States of Nigeria. Standard methods for the quantitative assessment of the phytochemicals were adopted in the analysis. Results obtained indicated that the phytochemicals were in varied concentrations in the leaves from each of the States. The range of the concentration of alkaloid, tannin, flavonoid, saponin, phytate, steroid, phenol and oxalate were 4.08-2.11%, 30.20-10.50%, 1.52-0.61%, 1.66-0.69%, 0.16-0.08%, 3.80-3.20%, 3.60–3.19% and 0.26–0.24% respectively. Additionally, the leaves from the various States appeared to be good sources of these phytochemicals which are highly employed in preventive and curative treatments in man. In conclusion most of the phytochemicals detected in this study have significant in vivo roles, thus acting as antioxidants which are capable of scavenging the free radicals and thus preventing the cause of some ailments in humans.