Assessment of Nutrient Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Some Popular Underutilized Edible Crops of Nagaland, India ()
ABSTRACT
In Nagaland ~70% of population lives in rural areas and depends on forest
products for livelihood. Being part of the biodiversity hotspot, state is rich
in biodiversity. The present study was an attempt made to understand the
nutritional properties of 22 popular underutilized edible plants (UEP) Kohima,
Phek, Tuensang districts. Results revealed moisture content of 22 studied
plants ranged between 4.8 to 88.15 g/100g, while protein content varied between 0.00269 - 0.773 g/100g with highest in Terminalia chebula (0.773 g/100g) fruit while lowest protein content was in Setaria italica (0.00269 g/100g). Total carbohydrate content was between 0.198 - 5.212 g/100g with highest in Setaria italica (5.212 g/100g)
and lowest in Juglans regia (0.198
g/100g). Of the 22 samples, maximum
antioxidant activity was in Terminalia
chebula fruits (37.49 μg/ml) followed by Clerodendrum glandulosum (65.29 μg/ml) leaves, Phyllanthus emblica (79.08 μg/ml) fruits against Trolox (96.89
μg/ml). Highest total phenol content (TPC) was recorded in Terminalia chebula (53.11
mg GAE/g) and Rhus chinensis (43.99
mg GAE/g) while in other 20 crops the values varied from 0.09 - 8.44 mg GAE/g. Total flavonoid content (TFC) varied between 0.004 - 43.67
mg QE/g with clerodendrum glandulosum (43.67 mg QE/g) and Terminalia chebula (27.78 mg QE/g) were found to be highest among the 22 plant samples. Findings
suggest that these underutilized edible plants should be popularized as they
can contribute to nutritional support to different
region of the state for health improvement and cultivated them commercially to help and develop various value added local product to improve
the livelihood status of the rural population and also add to the economy of
the state and region.
Share and Cite:
Deb, C. and Khruomo, N. (2021) Assessment of Nutrient Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Some Popular Underutilized Edible Crops of Nagaland, India.
Natural Resources,
12, 44-58. doi:
10.4236/nr.2021.122005.