Evaluation of Nutritional and Phytochemical Compositions of Two bitter Leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) Accessions in Nigeria

A comparative analysis was done at the Food Profiling Biotechnology Laboratory, National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike, Umuahia to investigate the proximate, minerals, vitamins and phytochemical compositions of Upland and Riverine accessions of bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina). Riverine accession contained more Ash (9.45mg/100g) while Upland accession contained more crude fiber (4.17%),fat (2.44%),carbohydrate(40.54mg/100mg)and energy value (288k/cal).The presence of more ash in Riverine bitter leaf is a confirmation of the presence of more mineral elements. sodium (180.36mg/100g), magnesium(162.54mg/100g), phosphorus(27.8mg/100g), potassium(949.35mg/100mg), iron(1.13 mg/100g) and zinc (0.48 mg/100g). This makes it a very good source of minerals especially as it can be taken raw. The results showed that Riverine accession contained more Vitamin B1 (0.16 mg/100g) and Vitamin E (0.32 mg/100g). While the upland accession contained more of Vitamin B2 (0.22 mg/100g) and VitaminB3 (0.15 mg/100mg). Upland accession contained more Tannins (0.75%), Phytate (124.13 mg/100g), Steriods (0.002%) and Oxalate (1.48 mg/100g),Cyanogenic glycosides (44.77 mg/100g), Anthraquinone (0.06%) than Riverine Upland accession which contained more Saponin (0.21%). Total Phenols, Flavonoids and Alkaloids were not different. Correlation analysis between phytochemical and proximate components showed that the phytochemical components correlated positively at 0.01 level of significance among themselves and with the proximate components except for saponin, anthraquinone and steroids.