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Nutritional Composition, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Selected Wild Edible Plants
Author(s) -
Khan Hamayun,
Jan Syed Aleem,
Javed Mehwish,
Shaheen Rabia,
Khan Zahid,
Ahmad Aftab,
Safi Sher Zaman,
Imran Muhammad
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of food biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.507
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-4514
pISSN - 0145-8884
DOI - 10.1111/jfbc.12189
Subject(s) - biology , nutraceutical , eruca , antimicrobial , medicinal plants , population , melissa officinalis , phytochemical , botany , food science , traditional medicine , medicine , demography , sociology , microbiology and biotechnology
This study determines the nutritional composition and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of wild plants available in P akistan. Eight wild plant species, such as C henopodium murale , E ruca sativa , G oldbachia laevigata , M alcolmia africana , M alva neglecta , M edicago polymorpha , M elilotus officinalis and N asturtium officinale , were collected from their natural habitat and analyzed. Proximate analysis of plants showed good amount of fibers and proteins in M . neglecta and M . officinalis . Among the minerals, calcium and potassium were predominantly present in all plants. The total antioxidant and free radical‐scavenging activities of the plant species showed a linear correlation with the total phenolics. Our results indicated that methanolic extracts of plant species have measurable inhibitory effect against E scherichia coli , S almonella typhi , S treptococcus pneumoniae and P roteus vulgaris . These results may provide useful information for the evaluation of the selected wild plants in terms of their nutritional potential and medicinal values. Practical Applications The nutritional values and medicinal potential of wild‐plant food are of considerable importance as they help to pinpoint traditional food resources of poor population in developing countries. However, it is important to build awareness among the community to accept wild‐plant foods as useful as the cultivated ones. The assessment of nutritional composition, antioxidant properties, antibacterial and phytochemical composition of the selected wild plants may provide potential insights into their applications in functional foods and nutraceuticals development. The current work will provide new reference data and will give awareness to public consuming these unconventional plants as food.