Comparative Evaluation of the Proximate, Mineral and Phytochemical Compositions of the Aqueous and Ethanol Extracts of <i>Albizia zygia</i> Leaves

Abstract

This study was carried out to comparatively examine the proximate, phytochemical and mineral compositions of Albizia zygia leaf extracts (ethanol and aqueous). The determinations were made by standard methods. Results of proximate analysis indicated the existence of significantly (p < 0.05) higher moisture (11.37±0.14%), and crude fibre (31.70±0.30 %) contents in the aqueous extract (AE) relative to the ethanol extract (EE). Also, higher (p < 0.05) protein (4.85±0.04 %), ash (16.41±0.09 %) and carbohydrate (35.29±0.28 %) contents were obtained in the EE when compared with the AE. While phytochemical assessment of AE and EE revealed the presence of tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins, glycoside, steroids, anthraquinones and anthocyanins, with significantly (p < 0.05) higher alkaloids (0.92±0.09), flavonoids (2.89±0.16), tannins (0.94±0.05), anthraquinones (0.90±0.04) and terpenoid (1.13±0.04) in the AE compared with the EE, and significantly (p < 0.05) higher saponins (3.14±0.46 %) and glycoside (3.28±0.79) in the EE. Similarly, significantly (p < 0.05) higher iron (189.69±0.51) content was recorded in the AE relative to the EE. Also, higher (p < 0.05) content of phosphorus (222.61±0.69 mg/kg), sodium (122.77±1.29 mg/kg), potassium (274.18±1.98 mg/kg), calcium (432.50±1.54 mg/kg), magnesium (231.99±1.60 mg/kg), zinc (8.34±0.06 mg/kg), manganese (4.10±0.06 mg/kg), lead (1.39±0.02 mg/kg), copper (36.64±0.36 mg/kg) and cadmium (0.51±0.01 mg/kg) was obtained in the EE relative to the AE. Thus, higher concentration of nutrients were obtained from EE relative to AE. It can be concluded that the presence of phytochemicals and nutrients in the EE and AE of A. zygia documented in this study enables its various biological functions and as precursors of valuable drugs in pharmaceutical industries.