Proximate Composition, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Status of Banga Soup (Elaeis guineensis extract)

Abstract

Most African food are prepared from plant materials that are reported to contain phytochemicals useful to the body. Information on most soups cooked using such plant materials are under reported. This study was designed to ascertain the phytochemicals, proximate composition, non-hemeiron and antioxidant indices of banga soup, a popular soup prepared from the aqueous extract of palm nut fruits. Soup samples were prepared using aluminium pot (soup A) and castiron pot (soup B) following the traditional method.Qualitative phytochemical properties indicated the presence of reducing sugar, tannin, alkaloid, saponin, flavonoid, and steroids. In addition, the quantitative phytochemical measurements also showed no significant difference (p > 0.05).Proximate composition analysis of samples showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the amount of moisture, crude protein, ash and carbohydrate.In conclusion, soup prepared with aluminium and cast iron pot are rich in phytochemicals. Crudelipid and fibrecontent of soup B were significantly higherthan soup A.