Phytochemical and Physicochemical Properties of Leaf, Stem and Flowers of Luffa Aegyptiaca (Johann Veslingius)

The leaf, stem and flowers of Luffa aegyptiaca were screened for their phytochemical and physicochemical properties. The phytochemical evaluation of the leaf, stem and flowers revealed the presence of saponins, tannins and cardiac glycosides. Alkaloids were only present in the flowers. Cyanogenetic glycosides and phlobatannin were absent in the leaf and stem respectively. The nutrient value shows that the leaves contain 10.01% of moisture, 0.78% of crude protein, 2.40% of lipids, 14.61% of crude fibre, 3.65%of ash and 48.02% of carbohydrate. The stem contain7.02% of moisture, 3.01% of crude protein, 4.50% of lipids, 8.10% of crude fibre, 2.50% of ash and 61% of carbohydrate. While the flowers contain4.01% of moisture, 0.5% of crude protein, 5.1% of lipids, 7.01% of crude fibre, 1.5% of ash and 45.1% of carbohydrate. These findings prove that Luffa aegyptiaca contains bioactive compounds that may be useful in nutrition and explains its popular use in traditional medicine in Nigeria.