Paul E. D., Sangodare R. S. A., Uroko R. I., Agbaji A.S. and Dakare M. A.
Leaves of Abrus precatorius are sweet and traditionally used to treat cough, malaria, snake bites and boils. This study evaluates the proximate and mineral composition of A. precatorius, and establishes the best solvent for the extraction of the sweet component of the leaves, by performing organoleptic test on the extract of different solvents, under different temperature conditions. The proximate composition of A. precatorius shows that it contains carbohydrate (65.50 ± 3.12%) as its largest component, crude fibre (2.00 ± 0.00%) as its lowest component. Moisture is 11.00 ± 0.00%, Ash is 7.00 ±1.41%, crude protein is 8.00 ± 0.00% and lipid is 6.50 ± 2.12%. Mineral analysis reveals that the leaves contains Na 94.10 ± 0.145 mg/100 g, Cu 00.07 ± 0.004 mg/100 g, Fe 24.14 ± 0.002 mg/100 g, Zn 6.09 ± 0.020 mg/100 g, K 246.94 ± 0.0252 mg/100 g, Ca 231.84 ± 0.204 mg/100 g, and Mg 25.66 ± 0.012 mg/100 g of sample. The best solvent and method of extraction of the sweet component of the leaves is hot (soxhlet) methanolic extraction.
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