Nutritional composition of Cichorium spinosum and Corchorus olitorius
2000
Zeghichi, S.)
Analyses were perfomed of the nutritional composition of the leaves of two wild leafy plants, stamnagathi and molokhia (Cichorium spinosum and Corchorus olitorius respectively), which are widely eaten in the Mediterranean region. Antioxidant contents (vitamin C, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, glutathione, and total phenols), antioxidant activity, minerals (K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, and P) and the fatty acids were determinated during plant development. The seeds were harvested from wild plants and grown in the greenhouse at 25 C. Leaves were harvested for extraction every 5 or 10 days. The results showed that both plants contained considerable amounts of antioxidants, especially molokhia, which reached levels of 77.42, 14.89 and 38mg/100g wet weight of vitamin C, alpha-tocopherol and total phenols, respectively. The glutathione content also increased during leaf development (12.52 and 13.77 mg/100g wet weight for molokhia and stamnagathi, respectively). Furthermore this study showed molokhia and stamnagathi leaves to represnt respectively an antioxidant activity equal to EC50=8.596+-0.12 and EC50=11.229+-0.07. In addition, molokhia was found to be rich in Ca, Cu, and Mn and stamnagathi to be a source of Fe, Zn, K, and Mg. Both plants contained linolenic acid (omega-3) in moderate quantities, (62.14mg/100g wet weight for molokhia and 44.4 mg/100g wet weight for stamnagathi.)
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