Comparison of the nutritive value, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of Sonchus asper and Sonchus oleraceus

Many local vegetable materials are under-exploited because of inadequate scientific knowledge of their nutritional potentials. For this reason, the nutritional, phytochemical, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the acetone, methanol and water extracts of the leaves of Sonchus asper and Sonchus oleraceus were investigated. The proximate analysis showed that the plants contained appreciable percentage of moisture content, ash content, crude protein, crude lipid, crude fibre and carbohydrate. The plants are also rich in minerals, flavonoids, flavonols, proanthocyanidins, total phenols and low levels of saponins, phytate and alkaloids. The extracts of the 2 plants also showed strong antioxidant antibacterial properties.National Research Foundation (South Africa