Nutritional Composition and Phytochemical Characterization of Daccryodes edulis (African Pear) Ethanol Stem Bark Extract

Abstract

The high nutritional quality and phytochemical constituents in Dacryodes edulis make them ideal for nutraceuticals supplements and fortified food and feed production for various disease prevention and treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the biologically potent components accounting for the nutritional and therapeutic effects in the ethanol stem bark extract of Dacryodes edulis (African pear). Thus, the research specifically intends to assess and characterize the phytochemical constituents, proximate, fatty acid, amino acid, vitamin and mineral compositions, and in vitro antioxidant scavenging effects of Dacryodes edulis ethanol stem bark extract. Fresh D. edulis stem bark were harvested and prepared according to standard procedures. Standard AOAC methods, chemical tests and standard assays were used for the nutritional and in vitro antioxidant determination.  The proximate component result shows that the ethanol stem bark of Dacryodes edulis contains a passable amount of carbohydrates and crude fibre with a percentage composition of 48.05±0.343% and 29.19±0.110 respectively.  Glycine (12.45±0.0005 ppm) and proline (10.10±0.0007 ppm) were the most constituted amino acids. The result also revealed that the most constituted saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids present in the stem bark were Palmitic acid (C16: 23.67±0.01 ppm) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22_6:7.71±.015 ppm) respectively. Vitamin A (77.25±0.002 mg/kg) and sodium (Na; 9.99±0.008 ppm) are the most abundant vitamin and mineral in the stem bark. The stem bark showed strong presence of alkaloids (13.47±0.18 mg/100g), and also a concentration dependent increase in DPPH, FRAP and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging potential. The findings from this research supply useful detail on the bioactive components of Dacryodes edulis stem bark extract, which can be harnessed in nutraceutical and fortified food production.