Phytochemical Constituents, Nutritional and Anti-Nutritional Composition of Persea americana Seeds

Persea americana is a tropical plant commonly found in the South Eastern part of Nigeria. The fruit is mostly eaten as food. The fruits, leaves and seeds are used in folkoric medicine in the management of various ailments. However, there is paucity of information on the nutritional components and phytochemical constituents of the seeds. This study investigated the proximate composition, phytochemicals (qualitative and quantitative), Pro-vitamin A and vitamin C, minerals content, amino acid profile and anti-nutrients of Persea americana seeds. Phytochemical, nutritional, vitamin, mineral, amino acid analyses and anti-nutritive factor of P. americana seeds were carried out according to standard procedures. Qualitative phytochemical screening of P. americana seeds revealed the presence of saponin, cardiac glycosides, terpenoid, flavonoids, alkaloids and tannins. Furthermore, quantitative analysis of phytochemicals showed the presence of phenol (3.22mg/100g), alkaloids (1.86 mg/100g), saponins (0.95 mg/100g) and flavonoids (2.14 mg/100g). The proximate composition of P. americana seeds shows moisture (6.98%), ash (4.44%), fat (5.30%), crude fibre (3.31%), crude protein (11.20%) and carbohydrate (68.77%). The result for vitamin reveals the presence of vitamin C (24.1mg) and Pro-vitamin A (12.3IU). Also, mineral analysis showed the presence of sodium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, calcium, chromium, potassium and lead in varying concentration. Amino acid analysis of the seed showed that the concentration of total amino acid was 54.53g/100g protein while, the total essential amino acid was 26.33g/100g protein. The total non-essential amino acid present in the seed was 28.20g/100g protein with a very high proline concentration (6.50g/100g). The anti-nutrient contents of the seeds revealed the presence of tannin, oxalate, saponins, alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides and phytate. The results obtained from this study indicated that P. americana seeds is rich in nutrients and phytochemicals. This study therefore suggests that the seeds of P. americana may be developed in to supplements that may have beneficial effects on the nutrition and health of humans.