Bioactive Compounds and Mineral Contents of Telfairia occidentalis hooker fil. Grown in Urea Solutions

Abstract

The study focused on the use of Urea containing hydroponic solutions for growing Telfairia occidentalis Hooker fil and evaluated the bioactive compounds and mineral contents of T. occidentalis. They solutions varied in the amount of Urea granules (25g, 50g, 75g, 100g, 125g and 150g, respectively) dissolved in water and designated as M²⁵U, M⁵⁰U, M⁷⁵U, M¹⁰⁰U, M¹²⁵U, M¹⁵⁰U and Control, respectively. Two-week old seedlings of T. occidentalis raised using River-sand were transferred into the growth media; in four replicates. The bioactive compounds (nutritional composition, vitamins, and amino acids contents) and mineral content were determined 5 weeks after planting following standard procedures. Telfairia occidentalis grown in Control and M²⁵U media had the highest energy level (1509.76 KJ/100g and 1496.70 KJ/100g, respectively) while the lowest energy content (1351.87 J/100g) was recorded at M⁷⁵U growth medium. The study showed that T. occidentalis contains more of water-soluble vitamins than fat-soluble vitamins. The leaves grown in M¹⁰⁰U medium had the highest total vitamins value. Also, 9 essential amino acids (EAA) and 11 non-essential amino acids (NEAA) were detected and quantified in the leaves of T. occidentalis grown in varying Urea solutions. The EAA contents were lower than the NEAA contents. Amongst the amino acids and growth media, glycine content (9.10%) of leaves was the most concentrated in M⁵⁰U medium. The concentrations of N, Ca, Mg and K in the leaves were high compared Na, Mn, Fe, Zn and Cu in the growth media. The leaves grown in the Control medium had the lowest mineral content in most of the growth media.