Fatty Acid Profile of Tapinanthus bangwensis and Moringa oleifera and Their Health Implications.

Abstract

Lipid and lipophilic compounds are of great interest as bioactive additives in phytotherapy Plants contain bioactive compounds and fatty acids that have both medicinal and nutritional benefits. The aim of this research study was to evaluate the fatty acid profile of Tapinanthus bangwensis and Moringa oleifera and their health implications. The gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy technique (GC-MS) was used for the assessment. The result showed that there were saturated fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acids and methylated fatty acid esters present. The result showed that ethylacetate fraction of Tapinanthus bangwensis (ETF 1) showed the highest concentration of hexadecanoic acid (44.21%), acetone fraction of Moringa oleifera (ACF 2) had the highest concentration of both 9-Octadecenoic acid and Docosenoic acids (40.05%) respectively. The 9, 12, 15-Octadecenoic acids was most abundant in methanolic extract of Tapinanthus bangwensis (MeCE 1) (37.25%) while 9,12,15-Octadecatrienoic acid, methyl ester. was significantly concentrated in ethylacetate fraction of Moringa oleifera (16.48%) compared to the other samples. Finally, it could be concluded that Tapinanthus bangwensis and Moringa oleifera are good sources of dietary lipid of nutritional and medicinal benefits to animals and man. especially as anti-cardiovascular agent. The significance of this research study is that it provides an additional information on the fatty acid status of the two plant species investigated