ANTINUTRIENTS

Research has been ongoing on many plant materials, especially those discarded as waste, to exploit their nutritional and antinutritional properties. Generally, plant parts (seeds, leaves, bark, fruits, stems) contain bioactive agents with medicinal properties but require proper assessment. Avocado (P. americana) seeds are often discarded after taking the pulp of the fruit. Until recent times, Researchers have identified a wealth of therapeutic compounds in the husk of avocado seeds which are normally discarded. The present study was aimed at determining the level of anti-nutrients and possibly heavy metals in the seed of Avocado. The seeds were removed from the pulp, washed, dried, cut into smaller pieces and allow to air dry completely and then pulverised. The seed powder of P. americana was analysed to determine its mineral contents and some antinutritional properties (oxalate and phytate). The quantitative analysis of these parameters showed that the anti-nutritive components are Phytate (1.07%) and oxalate (6.16%) respectively. The mineral analysis revealed zinc (3.415 mg/kg ±0.145), Lead (0.035 mg/kg ±0.005), iron (2.775 mg/kg ± 0.105), Nickel (0.115 mg/kg ±0.005), Copper(0.265 mg/kg ±0.015), Cobalt (0.14 mg/kg ±0.01), Chromium (0.08 mg/kg ±0) respectively. This study, therefore revealed that P. americana seeds have a low level of oxalate and phytate contents while there were low levels of some heavy metals as seen in the result. In conclusion, the seeds of P.
Americana were found to be a beneficial potential therapeutic agent.