VERNONIA AMYGDALINA LEAVES MARKETED IN BENIN CITY: ASPECTS OF SELECTED MINERAL ELEMENTS AND VITAMINS PROFILING AND INFLUENCE OF PROCESSING AND STORAGE STUDIES

Journal: Acta Chemica Malaysia (ACMY)
Author: Dibie N. Edward, Esther C. Dibie
ISSN: 2576-6732
e-ISSN: 2576-6724

This is an open access journal distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

DOI: 10.26480/acmy.02.2025.115.121

Vernonia amygdalina Leaves is a common additive used for diet and ethnomedicinal purposes. This work entailed the investigations of Vernonia amygdalina Leaves for its levels of copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), chromium (Cr) and selenium Se) levels, as well as the levels of ascorbic acid, thiamine, riboflavin and pantothenic acid. Also, the study investigated the responses of the studied vitamins to processing and storage. All investigations were carried out using standard methods. Samples were stored in the open laboratory and at water activities (aw) of 0.23, 0.52 and 0.97. Duration of storage was two months. Findings indicated that the ranges of occurrence of the examined mineral elements were K: (8,905.987±39.374 -11,698.115±25.293) mg/kg; Ca: (750.627±31.279 – 965.987±29.169) mg/kg; Mg: (322.607±7.389 – 423.650±26.115) mg/kg; Na: (21.927±3.843 to39.308±3.572) mg/kg; Zn: (14.258±2.297 – 26.403±1.712) mg/kg; Fe: (9.914±1.298 – 27.580±4.267) mg/kg; Cu: (1.917±0.186 -5.143±0.257) mg/kg; Cr: (1.283±0.317 – 3.378±0.422) mg/kg; Se: (0.310±0.062 – 0.394±0.085) mg/kg and Co: (0.145±0.018 – 0.241±0.098) mg/kg. Additionally, the values obtained for the examined vitamins were: ascorbic acid (14.948±0.188 – 24.849±0.739) ppm; thiamine (2.278±0.174- 3.284±0.069) ppm; riboflavin (3.285±0.491 – 4.685±0.277) ppm and pantothenic acid (2.481±0.152 – 2.481±0.152) ppm .Results further revealed that processing and storage negatively affected the values of the studied vitamins. Statistical analysis P<0.05 revealed significant differences between the values of the investigated mineral elements, as well as those of the vitamins. Significant differences (P<0.05 ) were also indicated among the processing and storage values obtained for the examined vitamins in the processed and stored Vernonia amygdalina leaves. Hopefully, these findings will be useful in policy formulation of standard methods for handling of Vernonia amygdalina leaves.