Nutritional and phytochemical evaluation of <i>A. lividus </i>L.syn<i>. Amaranthus</i> <i>blitum</i> subsp. <i>oleraceus</i> (L.) Costea leaves

Abstract

The determination of the proximate composition of <i>A. lividus </i>showed the extract to be rich in protein (17.28 ± 0.42 gm/100 gm and dietary fiber (8.35 ± 0.16 gm/100 gm) but very low in fat content (0.69 ± 0.05 gm/100 gm). The phytochemical screening of the various extracts revealed the presence of phenolics ranging between 1.38 to 9.07 µg GAE/mg sample, flavonoid in the range 0.88-5.04 µg RE/mg sample, alkaloids (8.16 %) saponins (29.44 %) and tannins (4.27 %). The bioactive compounds were explored through GC-MS which showed presence of compounds like β-sitosterol, phytol and tetradecane in high amounts. Methanolic soxhlet extract showed highest radical scavenging activity against ABTS (IC₅₀- 1.61±0.01 mg/ml), DPPH (IC₅₀ - 3.18±0.04 mg/ml), FRAP (161.39±0.64 TE/g extract) and reducing power assays. The plant extracts screened against various bacterial strains showed good to moderate antibacterial activity. Findings of the study justify the traditional usage of <i>A. lividus</i> and provide evidence of its potential use as antioxidants and antimicrobials.