Evaluation of the Influence of Geographical Location on Phytochemical Composition of Moringa oleifera Seeds
Abstract
Plants contain phytochemicals that are non-nutritive but have anti-oxidant activity, which protects
the body cells from oxidative damage. An example is the seeds of Moringa oleifera which contain
phytochemicals of great medicinal importance. Seed samples of Moringa oleifera were collected from three
senatorial zones of Ebonyi State (Ebonyi North, Ebonyi Central and Ebonyi South Senatorial Zones) and from
each senatorial zone, three local governments were chosen to serve as replicates. The seeds were sun-dried and
pulverized to obtain 5.0 g powder which was defatted using 100 mL of petroleum ether for 24 hours. The extracts were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed for flavonoid, alkaloid, saponin, tannin and glycoside. The soil analysis was also carried out on soil samples collected from each study site. Significant level was tested at p
< 0.05 in which no significant difference was observed on seed’s phytochemical parameters analysed
across the zones but on soil quality tested, there were significant difference on % clay, % silt and % coarse
sand. The result showed that the phytochemical constitution of Moringa oleifera seeds from the senatorial
zones varied in presence and concentration across the senatorial zones. Ebonyi South Senatorial Zone had best
soil features and seeds from the Zone contained the phytochemicals studied at averagely high concentrations,
which suggests that enhanced soil quality enhances availability of phytochemicals and their concentrations.
Key words: Phytochemicals Moringa oleifera Environment Soil
