ABSTRACT:
Muntingia calabura, commonly known as the Jamaican cherry tree is a widely distributed, fast-growing avenue tree that can be easily identified by its green canopy and small, red cherry-like fruits. This study was carried out to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-arthritic activity of the chloroform and methanol extract of the leaves and fruits of M. calabura collected from Visakhapatnam, India. The moisture content, ash value, the amount of calcium, vitamin C, fiber and fat, the phosphorous iron, calcium, copper, potassium, magnesium, sodium, zinc and protein content in the leaves and green fruits of M. calabura were determined by standard protocols. Five items (one health drink, three spicy snack items and two sweet snack items) in total were prepared with the selected sample and organoleptic evaluation of the developed products was done by 11 selected panel members. Nutritive values were computed for all the recipes based on the nutrient information database of raw ingredients. The chloroform and methanol extracts were rich in a diverse array of phytochemicals like alkaloids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, tannins, phytosterols, flavonoids and triterpenes. Considerably high free radical scavenging activity (chloroform extract 91.9459±0.25% at a concentration of 100µl and methanol extract 81.0405±10.35% at a concentration of 300µl) and anti-arthritic activity (chloroform extract 96.6983±0.20% at a concentration of 100µl and methanol extract 98.1407±0.05% at a concentration of 600µl) was exhibited by both extracts. While the chloroform extract exhibited greater antifungal activity, the methanol extract showed greater antibacterial activity. Proximate composition analysis revealed that the leaves had almost equal amounts of moisture (54±0.5%) and fiber (54.5%). The green fruits had high moisture content (74.685±1.59%) and a significant amount of crude protein (2.0424±0.01 mg/g). Significant amounts of potassium, phosphorus and iron were found in both the leaves and green fruits of M. calabura. Both the leaves and green fruits had high amounts of magnesium (18.5672±0.6 mg/g and 18.4847±0.23 mg/g respectively) and sodium (13.0325±1.27mg/g and 12.735±1.48mg/g). Calcium and zinc were present in low amounts in the leaves and green fruits. Trace amounts of vitamin C was found in both the leaves (0.0645µg/100g) and the green fruit (0.0166µg/100g) samples of M. calabura. The five food items prepared were well accepted and appreciated for good taste, flavor, appearance and texture. In conclusion, M. calabura is a wonder plant loaded with phytochemicals and minerals having potent pharmacognostic activity and the tea of the leaves and the green/ripe fruits can be innovatively incorporated into food items and consumed to avail the health benefits of this plant.