Proximal, mineral and bioactive attributes of two wild forage legumes of the maritime habitats of southwestern India | Wild forage legumes in India
2022
Abhisheka, Gopalappa | Sharathchandra, Kodandoor | Sridhar, Kandikere
This paper aims at documenting the proximal, mineral and bioactive components of two wild coastal forage legumes belonging to the genus Canavalia. Canavalia cathartica and C. rosea (Syn.: C. maritima) are frequent on the coastal sand dunes, while another variety of C. cathartica is common in the mangroves of southwestern India. These legumes possess an adequate quantity of proximal components (protein, total lipids, ash, total carbohydrates and calorie). Among a total of 17 elements evaluated in leaf flour, all of them are present in one or the other variety of Canavalia. Sodium content was the highest in all the varietes of Canavalia followed by magnesium, calcium and potassium. Heavy metals like aluminum, cadmium, chromium and nickel were either not present or below detectable levels or in minute quantities. According to NRC-NAS, low Na/P ratio and high Ca/P ratio are desirable to designate a food or feed as suitable for consumption. Accordingly, the Na/P ratio of Canavalia varieties is not desirable as it exceeds 1, while the Ca/P ratio is feasible as it is exceeded 1. Among the 12 components by qualitative analysis of leaf samples using chloroform and methanol extracts, seven components were found in both extracts of all three landraces of Canavalia (phenols, cardiac glycosides. saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids, alkaloids and quinone glycosides), while they were devoid of coumarins, steroids and phycocyanins. As the agrobotanical features of coastal Canavalia spp. are desirable, the leaves serves as good pasture during the summer season in the coastal region due to the scarcity of fresh fodder grasses.
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