Determination of the Anti-nutrient Composition of Ocimum gratissimum, Corchorus olitorius, Murraya koenigii Spreng and Cucurbita maxima

The present study investigates the anti-nutrient composition of Ocimum gratissimum, Corchorus olitorius, Murraya koenigii Spreng and Cucurbita maxima following standard methods. Anti-nutritional factors are chemical substances which act to reduce nutrient intake, digestion, absorption and utilization of nutrients which may accumulate in the body to toxic level if the diet is not varied. The qualitative analysis revealed the presence of flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, alkaloids, tannins and phenols in the plant leaves using methanol, ethanol, and petroleum ether as extraction solvents except for saponins in which water was used as the extraction solvent. The differences in mean values were statistically significant at p < 0.05. The highest level of anti-nutrients were found in the following order: flavonoids (7.20 ± 0.15 %) in Cucurbita maxima; cardiac glycosides (13.01±0.03 %) in Ocimum gratissimum; alkaloids (8.82 ± 0.08 %) in Ocimum gratissimum; phytates (0.06 ± 0.00 %) in Corchorus olitorius; haemaglutinins (1.06 ± 0.00 mg/l) in Cucurbita maxima; saponins (9.26 ± 0.20 %) in Cucurbita maxima; tannins (1.45 ± 0.03 %) in Corchorus olitorius; oxalates (1.07 ± 0.07 %) in Murraya koenigii; and phenols (0.68 ± 0.02 mg/l) in Corchorus olitorius. However, the level of anti-nutrients in these plant leaves falls within safe level but should be consumed with care to prevent over-accumulation.