Chinelo A Ezeabara* and Regina O Anona

Department of Botany, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Chinelo A Ezeabara, Department of Botany, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.

Received: May 15, 2018; Published: June 27, 2018

Citation: Chinelo A Ezeabara and Regina O Anona. “Comparative Analyses of Phytochemical and Nutritional Compositions of Four Species of Dioscorea”. Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 2.7 (2018).

Abstract

  Dioscorea alata L., D. bulbifera L., D. cayenensis Lam. and D. rotundata Poir. are starchy staple food of Nigeria. Phytochemical, proximate, mineral and vitamin components of these species of Dioscorea were carried out on dry matter basis with standard methods. Test of significant was measured with Least Significant Difference. Dioscorea bulbifera had the highest levels of alkaloid (0.64 ± 0.01 mg/100g), tannin (0.54 ± 0.00 mg/100g), saponin (0.58 ± 0.00 mg/100g), oxalate (0.75 ± 0.01 mg/100g), ash (5.49 ± 0.04 %), crude fibre (3.45 ± 0.01%), crude protein (5.86 ± 0.00%), vitamin B1 (0.042 ± 0.00 mg/100g), vitamin B3 (0.037 ± 0.00 mg/100g) and vitamin C (0.63 ± 0.02 mg/100g), calcium (378.52 ± 0.10 mg/100g), magnesium (128.73 ± 0.04 mg/100g), sodium (87.80 ± 0.10 mg/100g), iron (3.14 ± 0.02 mg/100g) and zinc (2.79 ± 0.01 mg/100g). Dioscorea cayenensis had the highest compositions of fat (2.24 ± 0.05%), carbohydrate (77.89 ± 0.27%), vitamin B₂ (0.03 ± 0.00 mg/100g), vitamin A (69.50 ± 0.04 IU/100g) and total carotene (12.85 ± 0.07 IU/100g) while D. rotundata had the highest potassium and phosphorus contents (530.70 ± 0.10 and 168.70 ± 0.01 mg/100g) respectively. This study, therefore, suggested that medicinal and nutritive benefits abound in D. bulbifera, D. cayenensis and D. rotundata.

Keywords: Dioscorea alata; D. bulbifera; D. cayenensis; D. rotundata; Vitamins; Minerals

Copyright: © 2018 Chinelo A Ezeabara and Regina O Anona. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.