PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS AS POTENTIAL FEED INGREDIENTS AND PROTECTIVE MECHANISMS FOR AQUATIC ANIMALS

Abstract

Medicinal plant with several parts such as the leaves, bark, roots, fruits and seeds are used as natural remedies for a variety of illnesses, as food additives, components of functional foods, and preventing animal diseases. The phytochemical screening and proximate composition of some medicinal plants such as tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus), cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), thorn apple (Datura stramonium) seed, thorn apple (Datura stramonium) leaves, cattle stick (Carpolobia lutea) root and cattle stick (Carpolobia lutea) leaves were determined using standard methods. The results of phytochemical screening of these plants showed the presence of saponins, alkaloids, tannins, phenol, glycosides, flavonoids, steroids and protein. Phenol was absent in thyme, thorn apple seed, thorn apple leaves and cattle stick leaves. Glycosides were absent in thyme and nutmeg while tannins were absent in cinnamon bark. The results of the present study show that the crude protein and ash were highly distributed in thorn apple seed (15.45±0.02; 4.39±0.02) and nutmeg (11.95±0.01; 4.52±0.02) than cinnamon bark which recorded the least values of crude protein (3.45±0.03) and ash (2.35±0.01). The results indicate that these plants are potentials source of fish feed ingredients and could be used to fulfil the growing demand for plant-based food with immunomodulatory and antioxidant properties