DOI: 10.1177/1934578x261499066 ISSN: 1934-578X

Comparative Analysis of Phytochemical and Nutritional Profile of Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. Seeds Collected From Different Altitudes of Himachal Pradesh

Komal Raghuvanshi, Sakshi Sharma, Mehak Thakur, Disha Raghuvanshi, Dinesh Kumar, Rachna Verma, Wubetie Adnew Wassie
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Objective

Altitude tremendously impacts various environmental conditions, resulting in major changes in plant physiological and biochemical processes. The current research evaluates the effect of altitudinal variation on the phytochemical and nutritional profile of Eleusine coracana seeds collected from five different districts of Himachal Pradesh, India including Site 1 (Mandi, 1196 m), Site 2 (Solan, 1265 m), Site 3 (Sirmaur, 1552 m), Site 4 (Shimla, 2086 m), and Site 5 (Chamba, 2200 m).

Methods

Nutritional composition, including protein, fibre, ash, moisture, fat, and carbohydrate contents, was determined using standard proximate analytical methods and minerals analysis was carried out using ICP-OES, and nitrogen content was estimated using the Kjeldahl method. Phytochemical analysis of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, and saponins were determined using established spectrophotometric methods.

Results

The findings of nutritional analysis revealed that moisture content in E. coracana seeds ranged from 9.75 ± 0.19% to 10.94 ± 0.20%, ash from 2.35 ± 0.04% to 2.69 ± 0.20%, fat from 1.11 ± 0.12% to 1.25 ± 0.05%, protein from 5.68 ± 0.12% to 7.87 ± 0.27%, fibre from 4.03 ± 0.05% to 5.71 ± 0.06%, and carbohydrate from 72.24 ± 0.39% to 76.26 ± 0.07%. Subsequently, the highest mineral content was found in the sample collected from site 5. Furthermore, phytochemical analysis of E. coracana seeds showed that among all the extracts (n-hexane, methanol, and aqueous) the methanolic extract of the sample collected from site 5 exhibited the highest alkaloid (1.77 ± 0.13 mg/g), flavonoid (4.21 ± 0.47 mg/g), phenol (11.97 ± 0.35 mg/g), and tannin content (9.31 ± 0.36 mg/g). Whereas, saponin content was found to be highest in the sample collected from site 2 (4.97 ± 0.09 mg/g).

Conclusion

Overall, the study revealed that altitude plays a crucial role in determining the nutritional and phytochemical composition of E. coracana seeds.

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