Proximate and Mineral Composition of the Fruit of Ficus polita
A. Nasir *
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, P.M.B. 2218, Katsina, Nigeria.
F. I. Jaafar
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, P.M.B. 2218, Katsina, Nigeria.
I. U. Muhammad
Department of Medical Biochemistry, College of Medical Sciences, Yobe State University Damaturu, Yobe, Nigeria.
K. I. Matazu
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, P.M.B. 2218, Katsina, Nigeria.
A. I. Yaradua
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, P.M.B. 2218, Katsina, Nigeria.
A. Usman
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, P.M.B. 2218, Katsina, Nigeria.
Z. A. Suleiman
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, P.M.B. 2218, Katsina, Nigeria.
H. Sulaiman
College of Business, Technology and Engineering, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, S1 1WB, United Kingdom.
N. M. Nasir
Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bayero University, P.M.B. 3011, Kano, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The proximate and mineral analyses were conducted in the Department of Biochemistry Laboratory, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria, in May 2019. The study was carried out to determine the proximate and mineral composition of the fruit of Ficus polita using standard analytical methods. The fruit on dry weight basis (DW) contains moisture (9.12 %), ash (1.30 %), crude lipid (20.51 %), crude fibre (56.69 %), crude protein (1.19 %), available carbohydrates (11.40 %), and calorific value (234.98 Kcal/100 g). The fruit also contains potassium (324.46 mg/100 g), sodium (164.78 mg/100 g), calcium (91.09 mg/100 g), magnesium (70.06 mg/100 g), iron (3.39 mg/100 g), zinc (0.46 mg/100 g), manganese (0.37 mg/100 g), copper (0.23 mg/100 g), and cobalt (0.11 mg/100 g). The study revealed that F. polita fruit contains an appreciable amount of calorific value, crude fibre, crude lipid, available carbohydrate, and crude protein. The fruit was also found to be rich in minerals such as potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and iron. The fruit should be recommended as a good source of energy, fibre, lipid, carbohydrate, protein, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and iron.
Keywords: Proximate, mineral, Ficus polita, fruit