Chemical Constituents and Nutrient Composition of Carica papaya and Vernonia amygdalina Leaf Extracts

The present study evaluates the chemical constituents and nutrient composition of leaf extracts of Carica papaya and Vernonia amygdalina. The chemical constituents were analysed using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The constituents of C. papaya leaf extract showed twenty constituents, dominated by oleic acid (28.98%) with molecular weight of 282, with the least compound Trans-Geranylacetone (0.17%), with molecular weight of 194. However, V. amygdalina leaf extracts contained sixteen constituents, dominated by 9-octadecenoic acid (35.18%), with molecular weight of 282, and Methyl tridecanoate (0.45%) as the least compound. The proximate analysis showed significantly (P<0.05) higher quantities of ash, crude protein and crude fibre content in C. papaya, when compared with V. amygdalina. In the anti-nutrient analyses, C. papaya had significantly (P<0.05) higher amounts of oxalate, phytate and flavonoid as compared with V. amygdalina. Evaluation of mineral composition showed higher amounts of magnesium and zinc in V. amygdalina except in copper content, compared with C. papaya. This study revealed the potential compounds present in the plant samples for their acclaimed biological activities in traditional phytotherapy.