Five underutilized wild vegetables namely Limnophila aromaticoides, Ceratopetris thalictroides, Crassocephalum crepidioides, Etlingera elatoir and Monochoria vaginalis were analyzed for nutritional values, phenolic components and antioxidant activities. These wild greens were found to have high fibre (11.3-19.8 g/100g) and ash (13.0-17.6 g/100g) contents as compared to commercialized species, Brassica juncea. The iron content of Monochoria vaginalis is four times higher than Brassica juncea (33.1 mg/g dry weight). Crassocephalum crepidioides demonstrated remarkable lipid peroxidation inhibition (90.4%). The phenolic content of Etlingera elatoir is two times higher than Brassica juncea. Thus, it is of both great free radical scavenger and iron chelators with the lowest EC50 values of 1.8 mg/ml and 2.3 mg/ml respectively. As a conclusion, these wild vegetables could be potentially used in alleviating micronutrients deficiency especially for the rural populace and as a potent source of natural antioxidants.
The study aimed to isolate and elucidate the chemical compounds that are found in banana
(Musa balbisiana cv. Saba) inflorescences. Banana inflorescence buds were extracted using
methanol and the resulted methanolic extract was partitioned using chloroform, ethyl acetate
and butanol against deionized water. The chloroform partition was further separated into
fractions using column chromatography assisted by thin layer chromatography. The structure
elucidation was performed using nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (NMR). Three
triterpenes were isolated namely 31-norcyclolaudenone (1), cycloartenol (2) and (24R)-4a,24-
trimethyl-5a-cholesta-8,25(27)-dien-3b-ol (3). This is the first report on the isolation of these
triterpenes from Musa balbisiana inflorescence. The discovery of new triterpenes from banana
inflorescence should be further explored to open a new perspective that banana by-products
might serve as new source of natural products for food and pharmaceutical applications.