QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF TOTAL PHENOLIC CONTENT IN AVOCADO (PERSIA AMERICANA) SEEDS IN EASTERN PROVINCE OF KENYA

Abstract

Phytochemical  rich  plants  have  played  a  significant  role  in  diet  based  therapies  to  prevent  and  cure  various ailments. The avocado (Persia Americana Mill,) fruits are much sought after for their high nutritional and sensory value. In addition to the nutritional value of its fruit, the seeds and other parts of the plant have been used widely as  medicinal  agents  to  treat  various  ailments  this  being  one  of  the  initial  points  for  conducting  a  thorough phytochemical investigation on avocado seeds with the focus on analysis of extractable natural products in respect to  their  potential  use  for  pharmaceutical  and  food  applications.  The  aim  of  this  study  was  to  conduct  a phytochemical analysis on avocado seed extract. The avocado seeds were dried using various methods in order to determine  the  optimum  drying  method,  which  will  maximize  the  active  ingredients.  Extraction  of  the bioactive constituents was then optimized to minimize the concentration of the undesirable constituents like the tannins. Various cultivars of avocado  planted in Kenya were analyzed for their levels of bioactive constituents (quercetin and apigenin). Drying at  higher  temperature shortened  the  drying time and increased  the  drying rate.  The total phenolic content (TPC) in the extract was not significantly affected by the oven temperatures. It was observed that there was a significant variation in phenol concentration among drying methods (p<0.001) and varieties (p<0.001). However the variation among methods of extractions was not significant (p=0.303). The interactions among them were not significant.

Key words: Avocado seeds, Persia Americana, Total phenolics