In Nigeria, the Abelmoschus esculentus L.Moench V.N:S:N fruit is one of the common edible fruits that people consider as part of their daily foods. Despite this consumption, many people lack the knowledge on the medicinal and pharmacological benefits of this fruit. This study tried to reveal those benefits by determining the phytochemicals and mineral composition as well as evaluating the antioxidant potential of this fruit. Standard methods were used for all the analyses. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of saponins, flavonoids, tannins, steroids and terpenoids, while, anthraquinone, alkaloids, phenols, glycosides and phlobatannins were not detected. The results for the quantitative analyses indicated that, this fruit contains saponins with concentration of 380 ± 0.020mg/g, flavonoids; 240 ± 0.01mg/g, while tannins concentration was 21.71 ± 0.66mg/ml. The antioxidant potential of the fruit was determined to be 54.1 ± 0.19%, while, the analysis of the mineral composition indicated that 100 g of the fruit contains 97.52 ± 1.04 mg of magnesium (Mg), 94.53 ± 3.21 mg of calcium (Ca), 77.10 ± 0.79 mg of iron (Fe), 47.14 ± 0.41 mg of zinc (Zn), 43.96 ± 1.49 mg of potassium (K), 42.02 ± 1.09 mg of sodium (Na), 0.47 ± 0.08 mg of copper (Cu) and 0.10 ± 0.02 mg of lead (Pb). These results indicated that the Abelmoschus esculentus L. fruit can be a good source of antioxidants and a nutritional supplement for Mg, Ca, Fe, Zn, K and Na as well as having an appreciable amount of phytochemicals. For that reason, it has some pharmacological and nutritional attributes.
Key words: Fruits, Antioxidant, Potential, Mineral Composition, Phytochemical, Pharmacological Attributes.
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