Proximate and Mineral Composition of the Fruit of Ficus polita

Abstract

The proximate and mineral analyses were conducted in the Department of Biochemistry Laboratory, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria, in May 2019. The study was carried out to determine the proximate and mineral composition of the fruit of Ficus polita using standard analytical methods. The fruit on dry weight basis (DW) contains moisture (9.12 %), ash (1.30 %), crude lipid (20.51 %), crude fibre (56.69 %), crude protein (1.19 %), available carbohydrates (11.40 %), and calorific value (234.98 Kcal/100 g). The fruit also contains potassium (324.46 mg/100 g), sodium (164.78 mg/100 g), calcium (91.09 mg/100 g), magnesium (70.06 mg/100 g), iron (3.39 mg/100 g), zinc (0.46 mg/100 g), manganese (0.37 mg/100 g), copper (0.23 mg/100 g), and cobalt (0.11 mg/100 g). The study revealed that F. polita fruit contains an appreciable amount of calorific value, crude fibre, crude lipid, available carbohydrate, and crude protein. The fruit was also found to be rich in minerals such as potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and iron. The fruit should be recommended as a good source of energy, fibre, lipid, carbohydrate, protein, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and iron.