Physicochemical analysis of Terminalia catappa (Almond) seed nuts grown in Benin city, Nigeria

The need for natural medicine and nutrients from natural product sources cannot be overstressed. Plant parts like leaves, stem, root, seed, nut and flowers supply enormous minerals, phytochemicals and other bioactive constituents apart from the primary metabolites. Terminalia Catappa (T. catappa) is a combretaceous plant often found in tropical and subtropical regions. The plant has many uses as an ingredient of various drugs such as anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-diarrheal. Thus, the main objective of this study was to determine the proximate, mineral and physicochemical analysis of T. catappa seed nuts. The proximate composition was determined according to the previous standard methods and elemental analysis by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry and Flame Photometer. Proximate composition revealed a moisture content of 02.34%, ash 03.89%, fibre content 08.50%, crude protein 29.66%, fat 21.98% and carbohydrate 33.63%. Elemental analysis of the plant have indicated the presence of iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, copper and chromium in the aqueous extract. Physicochemical parameters of the plant revealed a specific gravity of 0.9182, viscosity 33.62 mm²/s, refractive index 1.4642, acid value of 0.102 mg KOH/g, saponification value of 151.28 mg KOH/g, iodine value 47.19 g I₂/100 g and peroxide value 8.93 meq/kg. In conclusion, the findings from this study confirmed that almond nut oil has a long shelf life which may explain its applications in pharmaceutical, non-pharmaceutical and personal care industries.