Please login first
The Mineral, Amino Acid and Fatty Acid Evaluations of Myristica fragrans Seeds Extracts
* ,
1  Department of Biochemistry, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Abstract:

The mineral elements, amino acid constituents and fatty acids present in Myristica fragrans seeds extracts were identified and quantified using atomic absorption spectrometry and flame photometry, Technicon sequential multi-sample amino acid analyzer (TSM) and Shimadzu GC-MS machine respectively. Six hundred grams of powdered seeds were extracted in methanol and n-hexane (2:1 v/v) using a rotary evaporator. Calcium, magnesium, and iron were the most abundant in methanol extract with concentrations of 3.207 ± 0.048 part per million (ppm), 2.998 ± 0.046 ppm, and 0.977 ± 0.022 ppm respectively. The major essential amino acids in the seed were leucine 6.24 g/100g protein, valine 3.72 g/100g protein, and threonine 3.50 g/100g protein while the non-essential amino acids were glutamate 10.6 g/100g protein, aspartate 7.60 g/100g protein, and arginine 5.50 g/100g protein. The major biological compounds in the methanol extract as revealed by the GC-MS analysis were 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid methyl ester (RT: 20.768, 27.13%), Cyclododecyne (RT: 26.458, 19.33%) and octadecanoic acid (RT: 14.360, 12.24%) while the hexane extract constituents were margarinic acid (RT: 14.746, 27.04%), oleic acid (RT: 20.947, 18.96%) and 9,12-octadecadien-1-ol (RT: 26.523%, 15.10%). These compounds have shown nutritional, pharmacological, and medicinal importance in different studies.

Keywords: Mineral elements; Calcium;Myristica fragrans; Amino acids; Fatty acids
Top