International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences

ISSN: 2319-7692 Volume 2 Number 3 (2013) pp.65 74

Nutritive analysis of fresh and dry fruits of Morinda tinctoria

V.Anuradha1*, A.Praveena2 and K.P.Sanjayan2

1*Department of Biochemistry, Mohammed Sathak College of Arts and Science, Sholinganallur.Chennai-600113, Tamil Nadu, India. 2Department of Zoology, Gurunanak College, Chennai-42, Tamil Nadu, India. *Corresponding author: vanuradha_2003@yahoo.co.in

A B S T R A C T

Fruits are generally acceptable as good source of nutrient and supplement for food in a world faced with problem of food scarcity. They are known to be excellent source of nutrients such as minerals and vitamins. The present investigation aimed to assess the nutritional value of ripened fruits of a popularly known medicinal plant Morinda tinctoria. The present study is focused on the estimation of Ash content, Protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and mineral content of Morinda tinctoria fruit. The difference in nutritional content between fresh and dried fruits were also assessed. The ash content is 4% and 1.6% for fresh and dry fruits respectively. The fresh fruit is rich in protein and carbohydrate than the dry fruit. The fresh fruit is rich in Ascorbic acid and Niacin whereas the dry fruit showed the presence of Riboflavin and Thiamine in high concentration. The dry fruit is rich in calcium whereas the fresh fruit is rich in both iron and copper. Both the fresh and dry fruits showed complete absence of phosphorous. Thus, the Morinda tinctoria fruits could be used as a source of protein, vitamin and minerals.

Keywords

Morinda tinctoria; nutritional content; Vitamins; Minerals.