PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF DRIED POWDER OF Passiflora Foetida LEAVES AND FRUITS AND ITS PHYTOCHEMICAL CONTENT OF CRUDE AQUEOUS AND ETHANOL EXTRACT

Abstract

Passiflora foetida is an edible plant that is underappreciated by most local communities even though it grows widely in many areas. The aim of this study is to measure the proximate composition of P. foetida’s leaves and fruits as well as to determine the most efficient solvent to extract phytochemicals from the plant parts. The proximate values determined in this study include the moisture, ash, protein, lipid, fiber and carbohydrate. Meanwhile for extraction efficiency, aqueous and ethanol were selected to quantitatively evaluate the composition of total phenolic (TPC), flavonoid and tannin. The result shows that the leaves and fruits of P. foetida contain 4.80±0.17% and 3.52±0.17% of ash, 18.41±0.47% and 10.00±0.45% of crude protein, and 15.28±0.49% and 27.49±0.52% of fiber, respectively. In terms of the yield of extraction, it shows that aqueous capable of extracting higher yield than ethanol. However, comparison between aqueous and ethanol for extracting phytochemicals, revealed that ethanol is capable of extracting significantly higher amount of TPC in both leaves and fruits, as well as flavonoid and tannin from the fruit material. Aqueous extract was identified to be the best extract for tannin in the leaves. Ethanol extracts lower yield, but the efficiency to extract most phytochemicals in the plant materials was considered to be better than aqueous.