Nutritional value and antinutritional factors of foliaceous vegetable Talinum fruticosum

ABSTRACT

Talinum fruticosum Juss (L.) is an unconventional plant belonging to the family Portulacaceae; it is a herbaceous perennial plant that grows in tropical regions as a foliaceous vegetable. T.fruticosum leaves area source of fiber and minerals and they contribute to assemble the micronutrients for daily nutritional requirements. These plants supply the essential nutrients to the human organism; however, these plants contain antinutritinal factors such as lectins and tannins which may compromise their bioavailability. In the present study, the T. fruticosum leaves samples were investigated on proximate composition and anti nutritional factors. Samples were exposed to heat treatment for washing and for cooking for 10 min. These procedures neither signifcantly changed the carbohydrates and lipids contents, nor eliminated the hemagglutinating activity which is inactivated at 70 °C, although no effective reduction of tannin from the leaves was observed.