Nutrient and Phytochemical Composition of Centella asiatica Leaves

Centella asiatica is an herbaceous plant commonly known as Gotu Kola and belongs to Apiaceae family. It is found in most tropical and subtropical countries growing in swampy areas. It is a tasteless, odourless plant and it is traditionally used for the treatment of a wide variety of disorders. Its leaves and roots are used as vegetables and for medicinal purposes. Knowledge of their contributions to human nutrition and contents of bioactive components is lacking and has limited their use. Therefore this study evaluated the Nutrients content and phytochemical composition of Centella asiatica leaves using standard methods. The result of proximate composition revealed moisture (13.10 ± 1.07%), ash (16.5 ± 0.45%), protein (8.35 ± 1.28%), lipid (1.20 ± 0.10%), fiber (17.00 ± 1.87%) and carbohydrate (43.81 ± 0.70%) contents. Physicochemical result revealed Saponification value of 238.43 mg/KOH. Fatty acid composition revealed a high concentration of palmitic acid (55.70%) as saturated and Linoleic acid (17.50%) as unsaturated fatty acids; while amino acid composition showed high level of glutamate (13.389 g/100 g) as nonessential and Histidine (11.64 g/100 g) as essential amino acids respectively. The phytochemical composition revealed the presence of bioactive compounds such as; Proanthocyanin (11.964 μg/g), Rutin (11.8883 μg/g), Nanngenin (3.0122 μg/g),Quinine (10.4490 μg/g), Flav-3-ol(2.5900 μg/g), Spartein (3.0122 μg/g), Phenol (18.8713 μg/g), Flavonones (2.1836 μg/g), Steroids (18.8974 μg/g), Kaempferol (0.7273 μg/g), Phytate (1.6851 μg/g), Naringenin (2.7523 μg/g), Resveratol (10.8596 μg/g), Tannin (4.4377 μg/g) and Ribalinidine (3.0500 μg/g). The presence of these nutrients and bioactive phytochemicals in Centella asiatica leaves makes them useful in pharmaceutical and food industries.