OCU Adumanya, AA Obiloma and EB Essien
The fresh leaves of Salacia senegalensis (a medicinal plant) were collected from the forest at Orji, Owerri North L.G.A, Imo State, South-East zone Nigeria and were subsequently cleaned, cut into pieces and air dried at room temperature. Dry leaves were grounded into a coarse powder and analysed for the proximate, vitamins and mineral compositions which are yet to be reported. The proximate analysis showed that the leaf contains 57.28 % carbohydrate, 24.85 % crude fibre, 22.27 % moisture, 18.00 % protein, 1.82% lipids and 0.63 % ash, while the energy value is 317 Kcal/100g. Minerals found were mainly Ca (27.31 mg/100g), Mg (16.01 mg/100g), Na (11.83 mg/100g), Fe (11.75 mg/100g), K (9.57 mg/100g), Mn (3.01 mg/100g), Zn (1.01 mg/100g), Cu (0.95 mg/100g) and Ni (0.02 mg/100g). Vitamin analysis revealed that the leaf is rich mainly in vitamins C (45.01 mg/100g), B3 (0.14 mg/100g), B2 (0.08 mg/100g), B1 (0.03 mg/100g) and E (0.01 mg/100g). The result indicates that S. senegalensis leaf could supplement for carbohydrate, crude fibre and protein, while its relative high Ca and Mg values could be used for the management of bone ailments. Also it could serve as source of antioxidant due to its high content of vitamin C.
