The Biochemical profiling of steamed leaf extracts used in traditional food wrapping

Abstract

Around the world, various materials have been used for food packaging and wrapping, but natural food wrappers are now gaining popularity due to their perceived safety and the presence of beneficial phytochemicals having health benefits. In this study, comparative biochemical profiling of extracts from steamed leaves was performed, which are traditionally used by tribal community of Arunachal Pradesh for food wrapping during various food preparations through steaming. The leaves studied included Mallotus tetracoccus, Phrynium capitatum, Musa acuminata, Curcuma longa and Amomum subulatum.
A total of eighteen phenolic acids, thirteen flavanoids, eleven organic acids and seven water soluble vitamins were identified in the leaf extract. It was found that, the extract of Mallotus tertracoccus followed by Musa acuminata had highest content of phenolic acids, flavanoids, organic acids and vitamins. Gallic acid (10.79 µg/mL) was recorded highest in Mallotus tertracoccus and caffeic acid (6.29 µg/mL) in Musa acuminata among the phenolic acids. Mallotus tetracoccus was found to contain highest amount of catechin (16.56 µg/mL) and shikimic acid (1217.83 µg/mL) among flavonoids and organic acids, respectively. Vitamin B₃ (niacin), a water-soluble vitamin was also found highest in Mallotus tetracoccus (31.83 ng/mL) followed by Musa acuminata (19.23 ng/mL). Thus, it has been concluded that, steaming or wrapping the warm food with the leaves of Mallotus tertracoccus and Musa acuminata not only provides an alternative for health detrimental synthetic food wrapper but also supplements the food with several health beneficial bio-active compounds.