Chlorophyll Content of Some Selected Edible Plants Sourced from Ima Market, Manipur, India

Author(s): Jessia G, Th. Bhaigyabati, Suchitra S, G.C. Bag, L. Ranjit Singh, P. Grihanjali Devi

Abstract: Consumption of fresh green leaves as vegetables or as condiments has been on the rise for their nutritive values and specially to counterbalance the increasing number of degenerative diseases. Chlorophyll which is the most abundant pigments in green plants is of great importance in human diet not only as food colorant but also as healthy food ingredients. Recent research shows that estimating the chlorophyll content could help in understanding the medicinal properties of the plants. Hence, the more the chlorophyll content the more nutritious the leaves will be. In the present study, chlorophyll pigments were extracted and estimated from 19 selected plant species viz: Eryngium foetidum, Allium fistulosum, Allium tuberosum, Allium hookeri, Coriandrum sativum, Plantago major, Zanthoxylum acanthopodium, Houttuynia cordata, Polygonum posumber, Ocimum canum, Brassica juncea, Hibiscus cannabinus, Oenanthe javanica, Ipomoea aquatica, Meyna laxiflora, Mentha spicata, Centella asiatica, Phlogacanthus thyrsiformis and Leucus aspera using 80% acetone, methanol and 95% ethanol as solvents. Results of the study showed that P. posumber has the highest concentration (Chl a 16.977μg/ml, Chl b 7.524 μg/ml) and lowest concentration was noted in Hibiscus cannabinus (Chl a 0.102μg/ml, Chl b 0.336μg/ml) using 80% acetone. It has been found that extraction of chlorophylls by different solvents depends on the plant species as well as on the chemical nature of biomolecules.

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