Vol. 11, Issue 2 (2022)

Author(s):
Meenakshi V, Ilamaran M and R Vijayalakshmi

Abstract:
Solanum torvum is a pharmacologically, ayurvedic and trationally important plant and considered as an important source of many medicinally important chemicals. It is widely studied for their various pharmacological activities like antihypertensive, antioxidant, cardiovascular, antiplatelet aggregation, antimicrobial, antiviral activity etc. The present study is planned to reveal about the effect of drying on nutritional and phytochemical characteristics of methanolic extract of the berries of Solanum torvum Swartz. belonging to the family Solanaceae. From the study it was found that the crude fiber content of cabinet dried sample (14.76 g %) was higher than the other samples. The crude fiber content had an increased of 4.1% in cabinet powder sample than fresh fruits (3.6 g %). The vitamin C and total carotenoid content was higher in cabinet dried Solanum powder sample (5.2 mg and 1140 µg % respectively). Among the three different drying methods, solar dried powder sample had a higher value of iron (20.4 mg), manganese (15.5 mg), zinc (8.10 mg) and copper (0.208 mg) than other drying methods. The dried powder samples of Solanum torvum samples exhibited an Antioxidant activity of 73.180- 73.9765 mg AAE /100 g. Cabinet dried powder samples of solanum torvum showed higher flavanoid activity (806.6 ± 9.23 mg GAE / 100 g) than other drying techniques. The present study reveals a decreasing trend of phenolic content in the order of solar dried powder >sundried powder > cabinet dried powder. Solanum torvum has a wide range of therapeutically active phytochemicals properties which could be useful for treatment of various ailments.