Composition of Cissus populnea stem

Stems of Cissus populnea have been studied using standard analytical techniques in order to evaluate their nutritional, anti-nutritional and gum compositions. Proximate composition analysis of C. populnea stem flour showed that it is very rich in carbohydrate (43.7 ± 2.5 to 48.1 ± 3.5 g/100 g). Results of the mineral composition indicated that C. populnea stem is a very good source of minerals with high level of potassium (>1000 mg/100 g). Other elements that were present in appreciable quantities are calcium (821 ± 17 to 905 ± 17 mg/100 g), magnesium (295 ± 18 to 394 ± 12 mg/100 g) and phosphorus (203 ± 15 to 251 ± 17 mg/100 g). The concentrations of anti-nutrients obtained were very low with appreciable quantities in oxalates (12.4 ± 0.08 to 12.5 ± 0.02 mg/g) and trypsin inhibitors (13.1 ± 0.2 to 13.4 ± 0.1 mg/g). The crude gum yield of C. populnea stem was also found to be very high (38.3 ± 1.9 to 40.4 ± 3.5 g/100 g on dry basis). Means of the experimentally determined values were not significantly different at P < 0.05 for majority of the parameters. The results indicated that C. populnea stem is a potential food source and exploitable as commercial gum.