Nutritional and Anti – Nutritional Composition of the African Palmyrah Palm (Borassus aethiopum) Seedling

Objective: To determine the nutritional and anti – nutritional composition of the African palmyrah palm (Borassus aethiopum). Subjects/ Materials and Methods: Studies were conducted on the proximate composition, vitamin C, total carotenoids and some anti-nutritional factors / toxins of the fresh seedling of the African palmyrah palm seedling, using standard analytical methods. Analyses were carried out in triplicate and results presented as means along with their standard deviations. Results: Proximate composition of the seedling showed a moisture content of 32.45%, 4.94% crude protein, 2.12% crude fibre, 0.98% crude fat, 2.13% ash and 57.38% carbohydrate on fresh basis. Vitamin C content was found to be 38.02 mg/100g, while total carotenoid content was 2000.04mg/100g and the pH was 6.13. Phytate content was 14.42mg/100g, saponin content was 3.72mg/100g, oxalate content was 2.30mg/100g, hydrocyanic acid (HCN) content was 0.35mg/100g and total phenol content of the seedling was 200.02mg/100g. Conclusion: This indicates that the seedling of the African palmyrah palm (Borassus aethiopum) is a foodstuff with appreciable levels of protein, crude fibre, minerals and vitamin C and pro–vitamin A as well as safe levels of toxins and anti – nutritional factors. Keywords: Palmyrah Palm, Borassus, nutritional, anti–nutritional, seedlin