Phytochemicals, Heavy Metal and Proximate Analysis of Parkia biglobosa and Three Varieties of Bouillon Cubes (Purchased From Iyana Iba Market, Ojo Local Government Area in Lagos, Nigeria

Despite the huge nutritional values and availability of local seasonings such as Parkia biglobosa, knorr chicken as food seasonings, some developing countries like Nigeria require more information on the needs for increasing their utilization. Analysis was done using standard analytical methods, to compare the nutritional and heavy metal composition of P. biglobosa seed and bouillon cubes (Knorr chicken, magi star and Tasty cubes). The specific focus was to find out the proximate analysis (carbohydrate, fat, protein and vitamin), heavy metals, Minerals and phytochemicals composition of P. biglobosa and bouillon cubes. Atomic absorption spectrometry was used in the determination of the levels of (Ca, Mg, K, Na, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn). Phytochemicals, including phytic acid, tannins, carotenoids, phenols, saponins and hydrocyanic acid were also determined using method of Ola and Oboh [19]. The result shows that the seeds of P. biglobosa had significantly higher (p<0.05) Moisture (17.530±3.686) crude protein (25.722±3.524%), crude fat (27.536±2.273%) and Crude fiber (6.540±1.795%) contents compared to the bouillon cubes (Knorr chicken, Maggi Star, tasty cubes). The bouillon cubes had significantly higher (p>0.05) contents of ash (22.188±0.950, 24.092±0.911, 22.880±0.736) which is found to be low in P. biglobosa seed. Carbohydrate level in bouillon cubes were also found to have higher means values of (28.87±1.581, 46.785±2.243, 38.035±12.574). The minerals content of the analyzed samples shows that the P. biglobosa seeds have higher means value in Ca (126.285±16.393), Na (150.820±25.075), and K (1454.432±199.575) and bouillon cubes were also found to be high in (Ca, Na , K , Fe), respectively. While the values of (Mn, Zn, Cr Cb, Pb pH) were found to have low mean value which were higher than WHO permissible limits. For the ANFs, P. biglobosa seeds recorded higher levels of Phytic acid (31.171±8.369 mg/100g), saponins (15.767±4.663 mg/100g) and tannins (55.772±6.655 mg/100g), Total carotenoids (41.561±2.632), Total phenols (65.689±14.439), Hydrocyanic acid (7.618±1.922mg/100g) and Ascorbic acid (101.025±11.670 mg/100g) while it was not detected (ND) in bouillon cubes on analysis. T he heavy metal contents in P. biglobosa was found to be high in copper with mean value of (2.478±2.077) while it was found to be insignificant in (Cr, Cb, and pb) and are not within the recommended value by WHO. The overall results are suggestive of higher nutritional quality of the Parkia biglobosa seeds than the bouillon cubes. It was therefore recommended that information concerning the use of local seasonings should be made available through public awareness campaign.