A comparative study of biological and chemical composition of African spinach (Amaranthus cruentus) extract: an approach in drug formulation, food and nutrition

Abstract

African spinach (Amaranthus cruentus) is an edible-leaved member of the pigweed family grown widely in Africa as a cooked green vegetable. This research was aimed to investigate and evaluate the phytochemical, Proximate, FTIR, GC–MS and antibacterial properties in connection with health, safety, food and nutritional benefits of ethanol and hexane extract of African spinach leaves. African spinach leaves were extracted using ethanol and hexane. The aqueous ethanol and hexane extracts of African spinach leaves were used for the assessment of antibacterial activity by the agar well diffusion method. The leaves extracts showed the existence of bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, phenols, anthraquinones, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, steroids, carbohydrates, proteins, terpenoids and fixed oils and fats. The GC–MS assessment of the extract showed the existence of bioactive compounds. Different concentrations (50, 100 and 200 mg/ml) of African spinach leaves extracts against Shigella specie, Salmonella specie, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli demonstrated high level of inhibitions. The findings in this current research showed that African spinach contain better consumable quality. The bioactive compounds are used for the treatment of different diseases such as bacterial infection, cancer, diabetic and inflammation which confirmed their effectiveness in producing traditional medicine.