Abstract

POTENTIALITY OF NUTRITIVE VALUE AND PHYTONUTRIENTS ACTIVITY OF AVICENNEA MARINA – A MANGROVE FRUIT

Ria Halder*

Abstract

There are several types of mangrove sp. are found in Sundarbon area inWest Bengal. Only limited number of plant sp. thrive in mangrove ecosystem.The sp. like Avicennia alba, A. marina, A. officinalis,Sonaratia apatala, S. casiolaris, Heritiera fomes are consumed eitheras vegetables or beverages. Fruits of Avicenneia marina is popular asvegetables and it has become very popular around Jharkhali area inSundarban and some along coastal area of Gujarat. Main aims andobjectives of the present study to evaluate the potential nutritive valueand phytonutrients activity of Avicennia marina fruit. Foridentification of the phytonutrients in Avicennia marina fruits GC-MS analysis process isused. Several important phytonutrients are found. Among them Quinoline is very importantcompound which act as an anti-oxidant also. The findings of this study concluded that thefruits of Avicennia marina have high nutritive value and had potential bioactive substancesthat may be used as pharmaceutical ingredients for formulation of new or prospective potentdrug to cure wide range of metabolic diseases.

Keywords: Mangrove Fruits, Nutritive Value, Phytonutrients, Indian Sundarban.