Phytochemistry and Proximate composition of Dalium guineense pulp and seed

Dalium guineense, commonly referred to as “African velvet tamarind” (AVT) or “Black velvet tamarind” is a medicinal plant that belongs to the Fabaceae family and subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate and compare the phytochemical constituents and proximate composition of D. guineense fruit pulp and seed. Phytochemicals were measured using GC-MS-FID, and Proximate analysis was carried out using standard AOAC methods. The phytochemical constituents were more abundant in the pulp compared to the seed. The pulp showed higher levels of flavonoids such as kaempferol (29.60 ± 0.00 ppm), catechin (18.19 ± 0.00 ppm), vanillic (19.28 ± 0.00 ppm) and daidzein (6.91 ± 0.00 ppm) when compared with the seed (0.28 ± 0.00 ppm), (0.57 ± 0.00 ppm), (5.50 ± 0.00 ppm) and (1.25 ± 0.00 ppm) respectively. However, the proximate analysis results revealed that the seed had higher ash content (2.85 ± 0.00%), fibre content (12.23 ± 0.00%), crude fat (9.24 ± 0.00%) and crude protein (9.80 ± 0.00%) when compared to the pulp (1.15 ± 0.00%), (7.18 ± 0.00%), (6.10 ± 0.00%) and (4.55 ± 0.00%) respectively. Also, the pulp showed higher moisture content (16.88 ± 0.00%) and carbohydrate content (71.32 ± 0.00%) when compared to the seed (10.89 ± 0.00%) and (67.23 ± 0.00%) respectively. The results suggest that the pulp and seeds of D. guineense can serve as a good source of essential nutrients for humans and livestock due to its nutritional composition.