COMPARATIVE PROXIMATE, PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY ON AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF GONGRONEMA LATIFOLIUM FRUIT AND LEAF.

Gongronema latifolium a tropical plant, has been extensively studied for its medicinal relevance and antioxidant properties. This research aims to investigate the comparative proximate, phytochemical, and antioxidant effects on aqueous extracts from G. latifolium fruit and leaf. The phytochemical and proximate composition of the fruit and leaf were assessed using standard analytical methods, while the antioxidant assays were conducted using colorimetric and spectrophotometric methods. Phytochemical analysis revealed the Gongronema latifolium fruit sample contain higher levels of total phenol (38.21±0.99), tannin (30.79±0.94) and flavonoid (29.78±0.64) than leaf samples. The proximate composition showed that G. latifolium leaf and fruit sample possessed significant carbohydrate and crude fat content, while the fruit sample contained higher ash content (4.47 ± 0.70%) compared to the leaf sample (1.80 ± 0.13%). In the antioxidant assay, the DPPH scavenging activity of the leaf extract (303.41µg/ml) had a lower EC50 value than the fruit extract (371.26µg/ml) while the fruit extract showed a higher IC50 (517.11 µg/ml) than the leaf extract (644.00µg/ml). The in vitro assay demonstrated strong antioxidant properties, with fruit extracts exhibiting higher activity than leaves. These findings suggest that G. latifolium fruit shows superior nutritional and antioxidant activity surpassing the leaf, making it highly recommended for managing diseases related to oxidative stress.