Nutritional and Phytochemical Profile of Niger Cultivated Date Palm (Phoenix Dactilyfera L)

Abstract

The chemical constituents available in plants have been reported to vary with the geographical location of the plants. This investigation assessed the nutritional and phytochemical profile of Niger date palm (Khaokhara) fruit and sought to determine any uniqueness of Niger cultivate Date palm relative to Date palms cultivated in other regions. Standard procedures as described by AOAC were employed in the analyses. The moisture, crude protein and fat contents were determined to be 13.40, 2.67 and 0.70 g/100g respectively while the dietary fibre, ash, and carbohydrate values were respectively estimated as 2.13, 3.29 and 76.95 g/100g. The antioxidant vitamins present in the fruit were also evaluated; ascorbic acid (0.5mg/100g), carotenoid (15.5µg/100g) and Tocopherol (0.00mg/100g). Phytochemical screening of the fruit showed that it contained alkaloids (1.59g/100g), anthraxquinones (0.17g/100g), flavonoids (3.36g/100g), tannins (0.69g/100g), saponins (1.37 x 10-3g/100g) and terpenoids (1.97 x 10-3 g/100g). Other phytochemicals that were detected but not quantified are phlobatanins and steroids. This fruit is very rich in potassium (360.79 mg/100g) and contains appreciable amount of calcium and phosphorus (37.45 and 27.30 g/100g respectively). Overall, the data obtained from this investigation did not show much difference between Niger Date palm fruit and other previously studied cultivars vis-a-vis phytochemical and nutritional compositions.