Nutritional, phytochemical and functional properties of avocado (Persea Americana Mill) leaf: Evaluation of its derivative extraction

Abstract

Avocado (Persea Americana) is a popular fruit, highly consumed for its nutritional and therapeutic values - such as antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, hypoglycemic and antioxidant. The study thus evaluated the effect of extraction processes on the therapeutic properties of avocado leaf extracts. Samples obtained from this study were avocado leaves flour (ALF), aqueous extract (ALE), protein isolate (API), avocado leaves pancreatin-protein hydrolysates (APHpan) and avocado leaves lactic acid bacteria-protein hydrolysates (APHLAB), respectively. The protein contents of APHPAN (63.18 %) and APHLAB (66.58 %) were highest when compared to others (11.60%, 37.54 % and 55.59 %). The samples ALE and APHLAB had sodium (127.75 mg/100 g) and potassium (140.0 mg/100 g) contents, respectively. However, API and ALE had magnesium contents of 89.80 and 67.70 mg/100 g. The ALE had low vitamin A (0.15 mg/100 g) but ALF, API, APHPAN, and APHLAB displayed high contents (0.99, 0.64, 0.59, and 0.55 mg/100 g), respectively All the samples possessed significant (P < 0.05) functional properties. The phytochemical results revealed that the ALP and ALE exhibited the highest total phenol (237.6 & 233.8 mg/g) and flavonoid (48.4 and 40.4 %) contents, respectively. Hence, the outcomes from this finding suggested the avocado leaves as valuable source for functional food in the mitigation of degenerative diseases.