Lipid composition of Basella alba and Basella rubra leaves consumed in South- Western Nigeria: Nutritional implications

Abstract

The levels of fatty acids, phospholipids and sterols were determined in the samples of Basella alba and Basella rubra commonly consumed  in the South-Western Nigeria by gas chromatography. Results showed that the crude fat levels were 4.40 and 4.41 % in the Basella alba and  Basella rubra samples respectively. The fatty acid composition of Basella alba and Basella rubra samples shows that the SFA was 26.0 and  24.9 %, MUFA was 1.19 and 1.24 % and PUFA was 72.5 and 73.8% respectively. The other quality parameters of Basella alba and Basella  rubra were found: PUFA/SFA, 2.79 and 2.97; MUFA/SFA, 0.046 and 0.050; n-6/n-3, 2.47 and 3.31; LA/ALA, 0.890 and 1.12 and EPSI  (PUFA/MUFA), 60.8 and 59.5 respectively. Phospholipids present in Basella alba and Basella rubra were 1679 and 1920 mg/100g respectively.  In the group of phytosterols, sitosterol was highest with values of 196 mg/100g and 275 mg/100g in Basella alba and Basella rubra samples respectively. Linear correlation at a = 0.05, df: n-1 showed that significant difference exists between the fatty acid, quality parameters of  the fatty acids phospholipids and sterols.Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 52(2), 125-134, 2017