Nutritional Composition and Fatty Acids Profile of Senna siamea Flower and Flower Oil

Abstract

The proximate composition, mineral elements contents and fatty acid profile of Senna siamea flower were examined with a view to evaluating its nutraceutical potentials. The proximate analysis showed that the flower contains valuable nutrients; (g/100g) crude protein (25.49± 0.014), crude fibre (15.63±0.04), ash (7.10±0.03), crude fat (9.68±0.04), moisture content (5.54±0.03) and carbohydrate (36.56±0.01). The results of mineral analysis (mg/100g) indicated that calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, zinc, iron, cadmium and lead are 726.00, 938.00, 64.00, 30.00, 30.00, 8.00 and 16.00 respectively. The fatty acid profile of the flower oil showed that the oil contains higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acid (51.06 %) than saturated fatty acid (39.75 %). Among the saturated fatty acids present, palmitic acid (31.92 %) was the most abundant while linoleic acid (20.86 %) and linolenic acid (16.93 %) were the most abundant unsaturated fatty acids. The results showed that the flowers of Senna siamea are good sources of essential nutrients but the detection of cadmium and lead present calls for caution and as a consequence, the flowers should be properly processed before consuming them.