Amino Acid and Antioxidant Composition of Some Wild Edible Medicinal Plants of Uttarakhand Himalayas

Kundan Prasad and Deepak Chand

Abstract

Wild plants play a vital role in the health security of Himalayan inhabitants and constitute significantly to their diet. In this report, we investigated the nutritional composition of Euphorbia hirta Linn growing at high altitudes in the Himalayas. The collected plant materials were first washed with cold water to remove the soil particles and then shade dried. The dried material was finely powdered in the grinding machine and weighed in an electrical balance. The dried material was finely powdered in the grinding machine and weighed in an electrical balance. Amino acid analysis was performed using the Waters Associates PICO-TAG method. The total amino acid content in P. indica was 58.80 mg amino acid/g sample (dry weight), E. thymifolia was 123.92 mg amino acid/g sample (dry weight) and P. hirta was 225.73 mg amino acid/g sample (dry weight). The total essential amino acids in P. indica, E. thymifolia and P. hirta were 33.58, 57.99 and 145.82 mg amino acid/g respectively. Among the three investigated plants, Carotenoids viz. xanthophyll content was found 0.13 to 151.01 mg/100g dry weight basis. The maximum xanthophyll content was found in P. indica leaves and minimum in P. hirta rhizomes. The -carotene content in P. hirta and E. thymifolia was below detection limit (BDL), but in P. indica it was found 1.96 mg/100 g dry weight basis. The -carotene content varies from 4.62 - 374.55 mg/100 g on dry weight basis. The phenolics content (336.73 mg/100 gm) was found higher in E. thymifolia leaves as compared to P. hirta rhizomes (230.59 mg/100g), while (251.52 mg/100 g) was found in P. indica leaves. DL--tocopherol in these medicinal plants was found 13.48 mg/100 g, 24.95 mg/100 g and 9.13 mg/100 g on dry weight basis in P. hirta, E. thymifolia and P. indica respectively. The maximum (24.95 mg/100 gm) in E. thymifolia and minimum (9.13 mg/100 gm) in the P. indica. The retention time of xanthophyll, -carotene, -carotene and DL-- tocopherol were found to be 2.045, 10.947, 11.495 and 11.780 minutes respectively. Thus, it could be a better source of natural amino acids and antioxidants.