Assessment of the phytochemical, proximate and elemental contents of Cassytha filiformis (Love-vine) whole plant from South-Eastern Nigeria

In Nigeria, Cassytha filiformis plant is used as both medicine and nutritional supplement because of its variety of secondary metabolites, proximate analytes and mineral contents. The present study aims at determining the qualitative as well as quantitative phytochemical composition of extracts from the whole plant of Cassytha filiformis, determination of the proximate and elemental composition of the plant’s extract. The extract from the plant was obtained using four different solvents: ethanol, acetone, diethyl ether and water. The qualitative phytochemical analysis was done using standard procedures as described in the materials and methods section while the quantitative phytochemical analysis was determined using Gas Chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The proximate composition was determined using Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) methods while the elemental composition was determined using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS). Phytochemical screening shows that the plant possesses major classes of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, steroids, phenolic compounds, cardiac glycosides, cyanogenic glycosides, oxalates, phytate and tannins. The result of quantitative determination of phytochemicals shows that the mean concentration of phytochemicals in water extract was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of diethyl ether extract which is significantly higher than that of acetone which is in turn significantly higher than phytochemical concentration in ethanol. The proximate composition shows that C. filiformis has protein (10.850 ± 0.495%), crude fibre (7.803 ± 1.510%), crude fat (2.392 ± 0.348%), carbohydrates (59.564 ± 1.913%), moisture content (10.948 ± 0.607%) and ash content (8.444 ± 0.168%). The results also revealed rich sources of elements in increasing order Al (0.021 ± 0.003 mg/kg) < Pb (0.133 ± 0.000 mg/kg) < Cu (0.268 ± 0.007 mg/kg) < Zn (0.473 ± 0.008 mg/kg) < Fe (1.259 ± 0.076 mg/kg) < Ca (5.237 ± 0.036 mg/kg) < K (6.083 ± 0.042 mg/kg) < Mg (6.944 ± 0.070 mg/kg) < Na (7.057 ± 0.039 mg/kg) < C (12.813 ± 0.110 mg/kg) which indicates good nutritional value of the plant. This research would help to formulate pharmaceutical medications and dietary feed supplement.