Comparison of Phytochemical Compositions of Sorghum Bicolor (L) Moench Red Flour and Pale Brown Leaves

Abstract

There are increasing demands in plant derived natural food and their bioactive compounds with pharmaceutical, nutritional and health functional properties. No evidence exists regarding the bioactive and nutritive compounds of the red S. bicolor pale brown leaves which are consumed directly or indirectly as spice and herbs by humans and animals in some West Africa countries. We compared chlorophyll, carotenoids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannins, and fatty acid profile(s) of the flour and the pale brown leaves and their nutritional implication. The leaves were found to contain higher concentrations of total tannins (194.50-995.72mg/g), total phenolic (16.63-102.82mg/g), and flavonoids (0.20-0.36mg/g) and important essential fatty acids such as α-LA, EPA and DHA than the flour at P ˂0.05. These findings are the first of its kind in the leaves and suggest that red sorghum flour and its pale leaves may be a valuable health and nutrition promoting functional food that could fight against infectious and cardiovascular related illness in humans and animals