Physicochemical properties and antioxidant potentials of leafy vegetables grown under different agroecological conditions

Abstract

Leafy vegetables are very healthy for human beings having high contents of phyto- and physico-chemicals and are low in fat and calories. Mountainous regions worldwide have diverse agroclimatic conditions conducive for the cultivation of different leafy vegetables. Present research study assessed six leafy vegetables for their composition at fifteen different agroecological sites. Fresh leaves of six leafy vegetables, i.e. alfalfa, water clover, spinach, leaf mustard, pennywort, and fenugreek, were collected from the mountainous region. Procured leaf samples were brought to analytical laboratory and were subjected to physicochemical and phytochemical analysis, i.e. moisture content, pH, TSS, ascorbic acid, carotenoids, phenolic content, flavonoids, and antioxidant potential. Among all the sampling sites and vegetables, a significant variation was observed for the physicochemical and phytochemical parameters. In samples procured from different agroecological sites, the better retention of quality parameters was observed among the leaf sample collected from fifteen different agroecological sites. The highest values were recorded for moisture content in spinach at site 1, for pH in leaf mustard at sites 4, 5 and 6, for TSS in spinach at sites 6 and 9, for ascorbic acid in alfalfa at site 6, for total phenolics in spinach at site 5, for carotenoid in leaf mustard at site 5, for flavonoids in fenugreek at site 5, and for antioxidant in spinach at site 6. It can be concluded that mountainous regions are rich in agroecological conditions suitable for producing leafy vegetables carrying healthful constituents for the consumption by human beings.

Keywords

• Antioxidants
• carotenoids
• flavonoids
• leafy vegetables
• phenolics