Morphological and Chemical Characteristics of some neglected Leafy Vegetables:- Umunnakwe Elizabeth C.

ABSTRACT

The morphological, chemical and nutrient composition of six (6) neglected leafy vegetables; Cnidoscolus aconitifolius, Crassocephalum crepidioidcs, Diplazium sammatii, Laportea ovalifolia , Lippia multiflora and Tetrogonia expansa was investigated. Cnidoscolus aconitifolius contain the highest alkaloid (4.39 1 0.03° <») whereas Tetrogonia expansa contained the least (0.25 ± 0.03%). Averagely the phytochemical content ranges from 0.69 ± 0.03% to 4.39 ± 0.03% in Alkaloid, 0.79 ± 0.02% to 4.07 ± 0.2% in saponin, 0.93 ± 0.1% to 3.07 ± 0.1% in flavonoid, 0.46 ± 0.0001% to 0.19 ± 0.0001% in Tannin, 0.24 ± 0.002% to 0.11 ± 0.001% in phenol, 6.64 ± 0.1% to 13.69 ± 0.03% in HCN and 0.09 ± 0.01% to 0.1 ± 0.01% in oxalate. The mineral and vitamin contents were also investigated and it was realized that Cnidoscolus aconitifolius and Tetrogonia expansa were quite high in vitamin C. The results show that the vegetables have potential nutritional value and can also be used as raw materials in pharmaceuticals. The morphology shows that C. aconitifolius grows taller than every other vegetable studied while D. sammatii grows shorter. It also shows that most of the vegetables flowers arc coloured.