South Asian Research Journal of Natural Products

For ages, plants have been utilized for both nutritional and medicinal purposes. Mucuna pruriens and Justicia carnea are two prominent examples, traditionally used in medicine. This study examined the phytochemical, mineral, and vitamin profiles of the supernatant and down layers of aqueous extract of both plants. Aqueous extracts of Justicia carnea and Mucuna pruriens were prepared by maceration and kept to separate into two distinct layers after 24 and 4 hours, respectively. The assays were conducted using standard biochemical methods. The results revealed the presence of various bioactive compounds, including total phenol, flavonoid, tannin, saponin, phytate, oxalate and alkaloid, in varying levels in all the layers of the extracts. The analyzed vitamins and minerals varied in quantity and were absent in some layers. Mucuna pruriens, specifically its down-layer, showed higher phytochemical levels, while the down-layer of Justicia carnea was found to have higher vitamins and mineral levels. These findings therefore suggest that all extract layers of Mucuna pruriens and Justicia carnea are good sources of vital phytochemicals, minerals and vitamins that are nutritional and therapeutically valuable. However, the phytochemicals are evenly distributed in both layers but some of the vitamins and minerals were found only in some layers.