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.