Current Research Journal of Biological Sciences 3(1): 64-72, 2011
ISSN: 2041-0778
© M axwell Scientific Organization, 2011
Redeiveded: December 03, 2010
Accepted: December 25, 2010
Published: January 15, 2011
Chemical Composition and Antioxidative Properties of Seeds of Moringa oleifera
and Pulps of Parkia biglobosa and Adansonia digitata Commonly used in Food
Fortification in Burkina Faso
1
W.R. Compaoré, 1 P.A. Nikièma, 1 H.I.N . Bassolé, 1 A. Savadog o, 2 J. Mouecoucou,
3
D.J. Hounhouigan and 1 S.A. Traoré
1
CRSBA N/UFR-SVT/University of Ouagadougou, 03 P.O. Box 7131
Ouagadougo u, Burkina Faso
2
Département de Physiologie, Faculté de Médecine, Université des Sciences de la Santé,
Libreville (Gabon)
3
Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences/FSA, University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin)
Abstract: This study aime d to identify the nutrient com position and antioxidant prop erties of seeds of Moringa
oleifera and pulps of Ada nson ia digitata and Parkia biglobosa. Crude proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, crude
fibers, ashes and mineral elements were determined. Total phenols, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins of seeds and
pulps were reported. The seeds of Moringa oleifera are particularly rich in proteins (35.37±0.07 g/100 g), lipids
(43.56±0.03 g /1 00 g), and min erals (M g 2+ and Zn2+). Pulps of Ada nson ia digitata and Parkia biglobosa have
a relatively high carbohydrates co ntent (67.8±0.05 g/100 g and 67.66 ±0.05 g/100 g, respectively). Glucose,
fructose and sucrose were the main carbohydrates of seeds of Moringa oleifera and pulps of Ada nson ia digitata
and Parkia biglobosa. Seeds o f Moringa oleifera have the highest proanthocyanidin and flavonoid content
whereas pulps of Adansonia digitata and Parkia biglobosa were characterized by the highest total phenol
content. Seeds o f Moringa oleifera had the strongest MB TH radicals scavenging activity (99.74%) compared
to the pulps of Ada nson ia digitata and Parkia biglobosa 94.98 and 79.40%, respectively. This study indicated
that these pulps and seeds have a good potential in macro and micronutrients content and for its valorization
they can be effectively used to fortify staple food particularly for children and contribu te to erad icate
malnutrition due to micronutrients deficiencies.
Key words: Functional, Leguminoseae, nutritiona l, under explo ited products
INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Edible wild indigenous plants become an alternative
source of food with high potential of vitamins, minerals
and others interesting elements particularly during
seasonal
food
shortage
(February
to May)
(Glew et al., 2005). Wild fruits are also known to have
nutritional and medicinal properties that can be attributed
to their antioxidant effects and they can be used to
fortify staple fo ods p articularly for malnourished children
(Meda et al., 2008 ).
The present studies aimed at providing co mplete
proximal and minerals composition of the fruit pulp of
Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) Ben th., commonly called né ré
and fruit pulp of Ada nson ia digitata (monkey bread) and
seeds of Moringa oleifera (horradish tree) through
characterization and quan tification of their main phen olic
and bioactive compounds.
Sam ple collection: Burkina Faso is a sub Saharan country
with tropical, dry and arid climate (Characterized by
rainfalls variation with an ave rage o f 350 mm in North to
1000 mm in Sou th-west) with 2 contrasted seasons (rains
lasts May-June to September and dry season lasts October
to May). Due to unequal reparation of the rains pulps of
Parkia biglobosa, And ason ia digitata and seeds of
Moringa oleifera were collected immediately after
maturation in different regions of Burk ina from April to
June 2008. The first region was Ouagadougou (Central
region and capital city of Burkina Faso with annual rains
around 750 mm), Badala (located at 400 km West from
Ouagadougou where rains were around 900-1200 mm per
year), Kou pela (140 k m East from Ou agadougou w here
annual pluviometry was around 800 mm) and Ouahigouya
(200 km North from Ouagad ougou w ith annual rains with
Corresponding Author: W.R. Compaoré, CRSBAN/UFR-SVT/ University of Ouagadougou, 03 P.O. Box 7131, Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso
64
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 3(1): 64-72, 2011
600 mm aroun d). Fresh fruits w ere harvested, packed in
airtight polyethylene paper bags and send to the research
centre (CRSBA N) at the University of Ouagadougou
whe re they were dried at laboratory tem perature (25ºC ).
Flesh and seed s were manually ground in mortar and
passed through a 2 5 mm sieve and k ept for further
analysis.
From each homogenized sample, 0.5 g was placed in
50 mL volumetric flask and mixed with 25 mL of hot
demonized water. A 2 mL volume of Carrez I reagent
(distilled water solution of potassium hexacyanoferrate
(II), K 4Fe(CN)6A3H 2O, 15 g/100 mL) was added and
mixed. Subseq uently a 0.2 m L volum e of Carrez II
reagent (distilled water solution of zinc acetate,
Zn(CH 3COO)2A2H 2O, 30 g/100 mL) was added and
mixed. The mixture was shaken and kept at room
temperature (25ºC) for 10 min. After centrifugation at
1400 g for 10 min, to remove the protein fraction the
supernatant was filtered into a 50 mL volum etric flask.
The residue was w ashed tw ice with dem onized w ater (5
mL) and centrifuged again at 1400 g for 10 min then
filtered into the volumetric flask. Demonized water was
added up to a final volume of 50 mL. Twen ty microliters
of sample were injected and run for 35 min at 30ºC. The
carbohydrates were identified by their retention time
chara cteristics.
Nutritional composition: Moisture content has been
analyzed by the Codex-adopted AOAC method 934.06
(1990) and ashes by the AOA C official method 940.26
(1990).
Total lipids were analy zed according to the method
described by AOA C official method 922.06 (1990) using
desegregation by hydrochloric acid and results were
expressed as g/100 g dried matter (DM ).
The AOA C official method 920.87 (1990) was used
to determine total proteins in pulps while proteins of
Mo ringa oleifera seeds were assessed using the AOAC
official m ethod 992.23 (19 90) after lipid extraction.
Total carbohydrates were analyzed according to the
939.03 AOAC official methods (1990). Fiber content was
determined by the ISO method (ISO, 1981). Two grams
of finely ground defatted sam ple were weighed and boiled
with sulfuric a cid solution (0.255 mol/L) for half an hour
followed by separation and washing of the insoluble
residue. The residue was then boiled with a sodium
hydroxide (0.313 mol/L) solution followed by separation,
washing and drying. The dried residue was weighed and
ashed in a muffle furnace at 600ºC and the loss in mass
was determined.
Potassium and sodium content were assessed by
flame spectrophotometer (Sena et al., 1998 ) while
calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, zinc and copper
were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotom eter
(Sena et al., 1998). Phosphorus was analyzed
by
Technicon
Auto-analyzer
methodology
(Lockett et al., 2000 ).
Fatty acid analysis: Measurement of fatty acid was
carried out by GC -MS. Fatty acids were transformed to
their methyl-esters (FAME) following the method of
Hartman and Lago (1973). The FAM E com pound s were
injected into D B-5 semi-polar column (50 m; i.d.: 0.25
mm). The co lumn tem perature was programm ed to remain
isothermal at 90ºC for 8 m in, after which the tem perature
was increased at a rate of 10ºC per min to 180ºC and
stayed for 35 min. The volatiles fatty acids were identified
using an Agilent 6890 gas chromatograph interfaced with
a Agilent 5973 mass selective detector. Electron impact
mass spectral analysis was carried out at ionization energy
of 70 eV. The structural arrangements of the volatiles
were established by comparing mass spectra of separated
compounds with NIST/EPA /NIH M S database v 5.0 using
a microcomputer system.
Extracts:
Extraction of phenolic compou nds: Phen olic
compounds were extracted according to the method
developed by André et al. (2007) with slight
modifications. Approximately 5.0 g of each sam ple were
mixed with 100 mL of 80% methanol, wrap ped with
aluminum foil and hom ogenized in an Ultra-Turax
macerator. The mixture was put to dryness at 60ºC for 1
h 30 min with intermittent shaking followed by
centrifugation. After centrifugation at 1400 g for 15 min,
the supernatant was collected and evaporated to dryness
at 37ºC . Phen olic compo unds we re re-suspen ded in 5 mL
of HPLC-grade methanol and stored at 20ºC.
Mono and disaccharides analysis: Carbohydrates w ere
extracted from each sample of pulps and seeds following
the
procedure
described
by Stockfleth and
Brunner (1999).
A simple HPLC method is proposed to the
assessment of the main carbohydrates in pulps and seeds:
glucose, fructose and sucrose, (Sesta et al., 2006). The
chromatographic determ ination is an HPLC analysis with
refractive index detection (Bogdanov et al., 1997b), but
the sample preparation was developed for the application
to a matrix (RJ) that requires more complex processing.
The HPLC analysis is carried out on a water/methanol
solution of RJ, after protein precipitation by means of
Carrez reagents (Bogdanov et al., 1997a) and lipid
removal by extraction with dichloromethane.
Determination of total phenols, flavonoids, and
proanth ocyanidin content: The total phenols we re
determined
by
the
Folin-Ciocalteu
method
65
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 3(1): 64-72, 2011
shaking at a rate of 100 mL/min for 30 min; 2500 :L of
this reaction mixture was dispersed to test tubes, and 350
:L portion s of extracts, prepared in 2 g/L concentrations,
were adde d. The emulsion system was incubated for up to
48 h at room temperature. The same procedure was
repeated with a positive control BHT and a blank. After
this incubation time, the absorbance of the mixture was
measured at 490 nm. A ntioxidant capacities of ex tracts
were com pared with those at the BHT and the blank.
Tests were carried out in triplicate.
Inhibition of coloration of $-carotene in percentage
(I%) w as calculated as:
(Singleton et al., 1999). An extract of 0.1 g was dissolved
in 100 mL methanol. An aliquot of 0.5 mL was mixed in
an amber flask with 0.5 mL of the Folin-Ciocalteau
reagent followed b y 0.5 mL of 100 m g/mL sodium
carbonate/distilled water (w /v). The mixture was allowed
to stand for 2 h and the optical density was measured at
765 nm. Total phenols w ere expressed as mg o f gallic
acid equiva lent/g (DM ).
Flavonoids were assessed using a modified
colorim etric method (Jia et al., 1999). An extract solution
of 0.25 mL, 1 mg/mL was added to a test tube containing
1.25 mL of distilled water. Then 0.075 mL of 5% sodium
nitrite solution (w/v) was added to the mixture and
incubated at 25ºC for 5 min. After addition of 0.15 mL of
10% aluminium chloride, the mixture was incubated for
6 min at 25ºC and 0.5 m L of 1M sodium hydroxide was
added. The mixture was finally diluted with 0.275 mL of
distilled water and the absorbance measured at 510 nm.
Flavonoids content w as expressed as mg of quercetin
equivalents/g (DM) based on a standard curve.
Proanthocyanidins were determined according to the
procedu re described by Sun et al. (1998). Five hundred
microliters of the extract solution were mixed with 3 mL
of 4% vanillin/methanol (v/v) and 1.5 mL of pure
hydrochloric acid. The mixture was incubated and heated
at 100ºC for 2 h. After cooling, the absorbance was
measured at 550 nm. T he final result was expressed as mg
of catechin eq uivalent /g (DM ).
I% inhibition = [(Ablank - Asample)]/ Ablank] × 100
W here Ablank is the absorbance of the control reaction
(containing of the reagents except the test compound) and
Asample is the absorbance of the test compound.
Statistical analysis: All assays were carried out in
triplicate, and the means and standard deviations are
reported using SPS S for W indow s 13. D ifferences in
mean performance for each composition among sample
coming from each area w ere tested by the Student’s t-test.
p<0.05 implies significance. Pearson linear correlation
coefficients were used to assess relationships among total
phenolic compound s, and biochemical constituents.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The phosphomolybdenum assay: The antioxidant
activities of methanol extracts were evaluated according
to the phosphomolybdenum method developed by
Prieto et al. (1999). Aliquots of 0.2 mL of sam ple
solutions (50 :g/mL in dimethyl sulfox ide) were
combined in 4 mL vials with 2 mL of reagent solutions
(0.6 M sulphuric acid, 28 mM sodium phosphate and 4
mM ammonium molybdate). The vials were capped and
incubated in a water bath at 95ºC for 90 min. Samples
were cooled down at room temperature and the
absorbance was measured at 695 nm . The antioxidant
activity was expressed as mg of vitamin C equiv alent / g
(DM ).
Regional variability: Physico chemical analysis of pulps
coming from different regions did not shown significant
statistical difference between samples. Statistical analysis
of seeds samples from different regions has not presented
statistical difference. So, results of each analysis were
pooled together for further analysis.
Proximate analysis of seeds: The results of the
proximate composition (Table 1) revealed that seeds of
Moringa oleifera, as other legumes, are good source of
fats, proteins, and crude fibers. In this study lipid content
is about 43.56±0.03% and is greater than that from Braz il
reported by Oliveira et al. (1999). It is higher than that
reported for various soybean varieties (14.9 to 22.0 g /100
g) (Leffel and Rhodes, 1996; Vasconcelos et al., 1997)
and com parab le with those of pean ut (44.0 to 54.7 g /100
g) (Grosso et al., 1997 ), castor b ean (4 7.91 g/100 g) (Polit
and Sgarbieri, 1976), rapeseed (43.7 to 49.7g / 100 g)
(Zhou et al., 1990 ), sunflower (45.54 to 47.85g / 100 g)
(Saeed and Cheryan, 1988; Alza and FernandezMartinez, 1997) and mustard (24.0-40.0%), grown in the
United States, Brazil, Ch ina and som e other Asian
and European (Pritchard, 199 1). Ac cording to
Tsaknis et al. (1999) the oil concentration varied from 25
Determination of the antioxidant activity with the
b-carotene bleaching method: The antioxidant activity
of extracts was evaluated using $-carotene-lino leic acid
(Miller, 1971; Kabouche et al., 2007). A stock solution of
$-carotene-lino leic acid mixture was prepared as follows:
0.5 mg of $-carotene was dissolved in 1 mL of chloroform
(HPLC grade ); 25 :L of linoleic acid and 200 mL of
tween 40 were added as emulsifier because $-carotene is
not water soluble. Chloroform was completely evaporated
using a vacuum evap orator. T hen, 100 m L of distilled
water saturated with oxygen was added with vigorous
66
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 3(1): 64-72, 2011
Table 1: Prox imal analysis of pulps of P. biglobosa , A. digitata and seeds of M. oleifera
Content
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------An alysis
P. biglobosa
A. dig itata
M. oleifera
M o is tu re (g /1 00 g D M )
8.43±0.21
8.52±0.20
2.14±0.01*
A sh (g /1 00 g D M )
4.84±0.04
4.97±0.02
4.98±0.04
P ro te in s (g /1 00 g D M )
5.37±0.07
5.23±0.03
35.37±0.07*
L ip id s (g /1 00 g D M )
1.72±0.02
1.61±0.01
43.56±0.03*
T ota l C arb oh yd ra te s (g /1 00 g D M )
67.66±0.05
67.8±2.1*
9.17±0.25
C ru de fib re (g /1 00 g D M )
11.98±0.02
11.87±0.01
4.7 0± 0.2
*: p = 0.05
Table 2: Relative percent composition of fatty acid in M. oleifera seed oil
Co untry
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fatty acids
Burkina F aso 1
M alays ia 2
Greece 3
Kenya 4
C8 :0
0.04±0.01
0.03
0.03
C1 4:0
0.1±0.06
0.1
0.13
0.11
C1 6:0
5.57±0.31
7.8
6.46
6.04
C1 6:1
1.28±0.09
2.2
1.45
1.57
C1 7:0
0.1±0.04
0.08
0.09
C1 8:0
3.84±0.43
7.6
5.88
4.14
C1 8:1
72.4±0.55
67 .9
71.21
73 .6
C1 8:2
0.95±0.35
1.1
0.65
0.73
C1 8:3
0.45±0.12
0.2
0.18
0.22
C2 0:0
3.4±0.40
4
3.6
2.76
C2 0:1
2.7 ±0 .2
1.5
2.22
2.4
C2 2:0
6.95±0.32
6.2
6.41
6.73
C2 2:1
0.14±0.07
0.12
0.14
C2 4:0
1.5 8± 0.1
1.3
1.08
C2 6:0
0.08±0.02
1.18
To tal satu red fa tty acid
2.66±0.01
27±1
23.77±0.05
20.98±0.03
To tal mo no in satur ed fa tty acid
76.52±0.02
71.8±0.05
75±2
77.71±0.01
To tal po ly ins ature d fatty acid
1.4±0.01
1.1 ±0 .1
0.83 ± 0.02
0.95±0.03
Total
99 .5
99 .9
99 .6
99.64
1
: Ou r stud y; 2 : Abdulkarim et al. (200 5); 3 : Lala s an d T sak nis (2 002 b); 4 : Tsaknis et al. (1999)
results have been reported by Abdulkarim et al. (2005).
Differences observed between results can be attribu ted to
geographical, soil composition, cultivation climate,
ripening stage, the harvesting time of the seeds and the
extraction method used. T he hig h perc entag e of oleic acid
(monounsaturated fatty acid) in the oil makes it desirab le
in terms o f nutrition and h igh stab ility cooking and frying
oil (Abdulkarim et al., 2005; A nwa r et al., 2006 ). A
higher intake of oleic acid is associated with decreased
risk of coronary heart disease caused by high cholesterol
level in blood (Corbett, 2003). The seeds oil can also be
used as a natural source of behenic acid, which has been
used as an oil structuring an d solidifying agent in
margarine, shortening, and foods containing semi-solid
and solid fats, eliminating the need to hyd rogenate the oil
(Foidl et al., 2001). Moringa oleifera oil appears to be a
poten tially valuable and might be an acceptable substitute
for high-oleic oils like olive and high-oleic sunflower
oils as our dietary fats and it also could be used
for various commodities of commercial attributes
(Anw ar et al., 2005 ).
to 35.7% depending on different extraction methods.
Anwar et al. (2006) have found after oil extraction by
hexane method 38.37% in the seeds samples of Jhang
region (Pakistan) which were assayed from the Moringa
oleifera plants harve sted in the vicinity of river “Chenab”,
the sandy soil texture and favourable environment for
Moringa growth.
The variation observed in the Moringa seeds with
regards to oil con tent may ha ve be en du e to either a
different genetic ma ke up of the plants or more probably
due to environmental effects and variation in oil content
across
coun tries
might
be
attributed to the
environmental and geological conditions in the regions
(Ibrahim et al., 1974 ).
Fatty acids compo sition of seeds: The fatty acids of
Mo ringa oleifera are presented in (Table 2). The major
saturated fatty acids were behenic (C22:0), arachidic
(C20:0), stearic (C18:0) and palmitic (C16:0) acids and
the main unsaturated fatty acid is oleic acid (C18:1w9)
with small amounts eicosenoic (C2 0:1w 9) and palmitoleic
acids (C16:1w7). For these compo unds similar results
have been found by Tsakn is et al. (1999), Lalas and
Tsaknis (2002a) and Anw ar et al. (2006); while different
Protein, carbohydr ates and fibre analysis: Analyses of
the Moringa oleifera seed residue revealed a high protein
67
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 3(1): 64-72, 2011
Table 3: M acro element’s of pulps o f P. biglobosa , A. digitata and seeds o f M. oleifera
Content
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------An alysis
P. biglobosa
A. dig itata
M. oleifera
Potassium (g/100 g)
441.36±0.04
78 6.5 ±0 .2
48 .2± 0.2
Calcium (mg/100 g)
10 9.6 ±0 .6
309±1
78±1
Magnesium (mg/100 g)
13 9± 0.2
155±2
261±1
Iron (mg/100 g)
103±1
14.97±0.06
12 .77 ±0 .4
Phosphorus (mg/100 g)
11.81±0.21
775.0±2
525.0±2
Manganese (mg/100 g)
78.53±0.09
0.6 ±0 .1
95 .40 ±0 .4
Sodium (mg/100 g)
31.22±0.01
34 .61 ±0 .3
25.01±0.01
Copper (mg/100 g)
25 .2± 0.2
6.7 3± 0.1
54.2±0.2
Zinc (mg/100 g)
3.01±0.01
1.54±0.02
300.47±0.07
Table 4: To tal polyphenols, flavonoids, proan thocyanidines of p ulps of P. biglobosa, A. digitata and seeds of M. oleifera
Content
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------An alysis
P. biglobosa
A. dig itata
M. oleifera
Total polyphenols (mg/100 g)
104.66 ± 2
121.53 ± 2.34
14 5.1 6 ± 0.1
Total flavonoids (mg/1000 g)
73.06 ± 0.02
111.73 ± 0.05
14 4.0 7 ± 0.2
Total proanthocyanidines (mg/1000 g)
64.38 ± 0.01
106.68 ± 0.06
14 0.4 9 ± 0.1
Nzikou et al. (2009) have found for calcium, magnesium,
potassium and sodium values of 83.75 ± 0.01 mg /100 g;
251±0.02 mg /100 g; 36.53±0.02 mg /100 g and
22.5±0.01 mg /100 g, respectively. These values are slight
higher than our results although the atomic absorption
spectrophotometer method has been u sed for minerals
analysis.
content 35.37±0.07% . This value was similar than those
from Malaysia with 3 8.3±1.3 % (Abdulkarim et al., 2005)
and Pakistan w here A nwa r et al. (2006) have found a
value ranging from 29.6 to 31.3%.
Protein seeds of Moringa oleifera presented in
Table 1 is greater than those reported for important grain
legumes and cereals wh ich contain, in g enera l, 18 to 25 g
/ 100 g of dry matter (S ingh a nd Singh, 1 992) and 7 .8 to
22.8 g / 100 g (Bullock et al., 1989; Ranhotra et al., 1996)
of dry matter, respectively. The cru de pro tein analysis by
Nzikou et al. (2009) in C ongo Brazzaville by the method
of micro-Kjeldahl revealed a value of 37.6±1.07%. Thus,
these seeds are a potentially good source of proteins and
oil which should be exploited to determine if they are
commercially viable.
Carbohydrate is the low est ma cronutrient present into
seeds of Moringa oleifera (Table 1). Its value is about
9.17% while Nzikou et al. (2009) have found a value of
13.6% and Abdulkarim et al. (2005) reported a range
value of 16.5 to 17.8%. These authors have not appreciate
the main carbohydrates present into seeds so, it’s difficult
to com pare o ur results to those of others authors.
Crude fiber of Moringa oleifera is about 4.7±0.2%.
Nzikou et al. (2009) have found in their study a crude
fibre value of 3.2± 0.80% while A nwa r et al. (2006) have
found a range value of 6.60 to 9% and Anwar and
Bhangar (2003) a va lue of 7.20% . Although crude fibre
does not contribute to nutrients or energy, it is a source of
dietary fiber. This value of fibre might be helpful in terms
of maintaining positive effects on intestine and colon
physiology, besides other hom eostatic and therapeutic
functions in h uma n nutrition (M cPherson , 1982 ).
Determination of oxidative capacity of seeds: The
lowest content of total phen ol was observed with the
seeds of Moringa oleifera. Comparing these re sults w ith
literature, similar values were reported for Andean
chicuru (Stang ea rhizanta) (Campos et al., 2009) and
mushroom (Pavel, 2009). However, values that differed
from our results were found by Gernah et al. (2007). The
variation may be due to differences in varieties, climate,
ripeness and extraction method.
The oxida tive cap acity determined by researchers has
dem onstrated the strong ability of seeds oil of
Moringa oleifera (Anwar and Bhangar, 2003;
Abdulkarim et al., 2005; An war et al., 2006 ).
According to the results obtained (Table 4), seeds of
Moringa oleifera were found the most active one with an
antioxidant value of 99.74±0.01%. Samples with high
radical scavenging activity and /or antioxidant ability
generally have higher phenolic content with good
correla tions (Chen et al., 2008). In this study, the
regression analyses ind icated the correlations between
free radical scavenging activity, antioxidant activity and
phenolic content (r = 0.7 479). This result can be explained
by the high content of phenolic compounds especially
flavonoïds. Altho ugh none of research er at this time has
not conclude to this possibility proanthocyanidins content
in Moringa oleifera seeds may be its free radical
scavenging ability. Studies conduced at this time have
been interested by oxida tive ability of seeds oil. For the
M inerals profiles of seeds: Minerals analysis of
Moringa oleifera seeds is presented in Tab le 3 and it
revealed presence o f most of minerals. In their study
68
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 3(1): 64-72, 2011
Table 5: M ono an d disaccharides profile of pulps o f P. biglobosa , A. digitata and seeds of M. oleifera
Content
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------An alysis
P. biglobosa
A. dig itata
M. oleifera
G lu co se (g /1 00 g D M )
13.55±0.05
6.96±0.03
2.57±0.05
F ru cto se (g /1 00 g D M )
18.51±0.01
4.03±0.02
0.03±0.01
S uc ro se (g /1 00 g D M )
24.07±0.04
21.63±0.03
2.91±0.01
Sena et al. (1998) results (12.7 g/100 g) and
Gernah et al. (2007). The highest values without fatty acid
analyses, 4.3 and 4.1 g/100 g, respectively w ere reported
by Obizoba and Amaechi (1993) and Saka and
Msonthi (1994) who used dilute acid hydrolysis and
hexane extraction by the Soxhlet system. The latter
method was also used by Lockett et al. (2000) who found
a very low fat content of 0.41 g/ 100 g. So, variation
observed may have an origin other than the method used.
In our study, most fatty acids in pulps do not reach
detectable levels d espite the use of identical methods by
the rese arche rs.
The protein content of these pulps were very low
however Sena et al. (1998) and Gernah et al. (2007)
reported higher values of 15.3 g /100 g and 6.56% for
protein in pulps of Ada nson ia digitata and Parkia
biglobosa, respectively using analytical methods similar
to those app lied by the others rese arche rs.
rest of the samples, there is no available literature
information about the content of phenolic compounds or
the antioxidant capac ity but the results are gen erally in the
order of magnitudes reported for fruits.
Proximate analysis of pulps: Pulps of Ada nson ia
digitata and Parkia biglobosa are rather rich in
carbohydrates than protein and lipid (Table 1). Ada nson ia
digitata fruit pulp carbohydrate content is lower
than those from S eneg al (Becker, 1983), Malawi
(Saka et al., 1994) and from Tanzania and Transvaal
whe re values wh ere about 46 .6 g/100 g to 88 g/ 100 g of
dry weight (Murray et al., 2001). The presence of
carbohydrates was also mentioned by Soloviev et al.
(2004), who found m onosac charides conten t of 7.2-11.2
g/100 g of dry weight in ba obab pulp , while Nour et al.
(1980) reported 23.2% of mono saccharides. According
to Murray et al. (2001) monosaccharides in baobab pulp
account for abo ut 35.6 % o f the total carbohydrate content.
In their study in com position of pulp o f Parkia biglobosa,
Gernah et al. (2007) have found 67.30% of carbohydrates
while Millogo et al. (1996) reported a value of 60 %. In
our study the carbohydrate content is about 67.66±0.05%
which is higher to others researcher’s results. How ever,
the presence of carbohydrate can explains the noticeable
sweet taste of the pulp, the sweetness may vary for
different types of pulp. Carbohydrates identification by
HPLC revealed that pulp of Adansonia digitata and
Parkia biglobosa contain mainly saccharose and glucose
(Table 5). Carbohydrates content of these pulps are lower
than that from Ben in (69.9 8±2 .8%) and N igeria
(67.30±1.3% ) as reported by Codjia et al. (2001) and
Gernah et al. (2007) respe ctively for pulp of Adansonia
digitata and Parkia biglobosa, respectively. Differences
between results can be explained by geographical
difference in soil composition characterized by abundant
rains and vegetation.
Apa rt from imparting sweetness, carbohydrates act as
a preservative when present in food in high concentration
by making water unavailable to m icroorganism s. It is also
a ready source of energy sin ce it is more easily digested
and absorbed than other complex carbohydrates. It is also
an indication of the sensory appeal of the fruit pulp.
The reported crude lipid content (Table 1) of
Ada nson ia digitata and Parkia biglobosa pulps are
1.61±0.01 and 1.72±0.02%, respectively. These values are
higher than Nour et al. (1980) results (0.21 g/100 g) and
lower to Glew et al. (1997) results (15.5 g/10 0 g),
M inerals profiles of pulps: The mineral analysis of
samples is presented in Table 3. Minerals content of
pulps are similar to those of Sena et al. (1998) and
Osman et al. (2004). The methods used by these different
researchers were generally atomic absorption methods and
a flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Comparison
between all samples sh owed that Parkia biglobosa and
Ada nson ia digitata have the highest content on all
minerals without zinc. These minerals play an important
physiological role (structural and catalytic), and can help
to prevent micronutrients deficiencies. Comparison by
student t-test has not revealed a significant difference
betw een samples from different regions when considering
minerals con tent and proximal composition of pu lp.
Phe nolic comp ounds of pulps: Total phenolics,
flavonoids, and proanthocyanidins in pulps of Ada nson ia
digitata and Parkia biglobosa extracts are reported in
Table 4 The p ulp of Adansonia digitata has the highest
content of total phenolics, followed by the pulp of Parkia
biglobosa. The proanthocyanidin content varied from
64.38±0.01 mg to 104.49±2.0 mg in the following
decreasing order: P. biglobosa < A. digitata < M . oleifera.
Determination of oxidative capacity of pulps: As
shown in Table 6, all samples showed appreciable free
radical scavenging activities. Ada nson ia digitata had the
strongest radical scavenging activity, allowed by
Parkia biglobosa. The antioxidant activities found by
69
Curr. Res. J. Biol. Sci., 3(1): 64-72, 2011
Tab le 6: Antioxidative capa city and radical scavenging o f pulps of
P. biglobosa, A. digitata and seeds of M. oleifera
Test system
------------------------------------------------------------#-caro tene /linole ic acid
Samples
MB TH (mg/100 g)
in hib itio n (% )
P. biglobosa
508.34±0.05
79.40±0.02
A. dig itata
948.22±0.02
94.98±0.07
M. oleifera
708.17±0.06
99.74±0.01**
Asc orb ic ac id
---99.98±0.01
**: p = 0.01
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors acknow ledge highly Dr O bam e Louis
Clement (Libreville, Gabon) for his technical support and
the follow ing institutions for providing laboratory
facilities for this work: Laboratoire National de Santé
Publique (LNSP) and B ureau National des So ls
(BUNASOL) (Burkina Faso). The financial support from
ISP/IPICS (Sweden), the Agence Universitaire de la
Francophonie (AUF) and the Union Economique et
Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMO A) was appreciated.
Meda et al. (2008) were (900 mg /100 g) for Adansonia.
digitata and (500 mg /100 g) for Parkia biglobosa. The
probably high conten t of vitam in C in pulp of Ada nson ia
digitata can explain its free radical scavenging capacity.
The total antioxidant activity of samples was
measured as % inhibition of lipid peroxidation in the
$-carotene-lino leic acid system, and w as compa red w ith
the most commonly used standard an tioxidants BHT and
quercetin. The ac tivity of Adansonia digitata
(94.98±0.07%) was higher than that of Parkia biglobosa
(79.42±0 .02% ). Ada nson ia digitata with MBTH radical
scavenging activity was correlated with content of total
phenolics (r = 0.8176).
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