American Journal of Food and Nutrition, 2014, Vol. 2, No. 1, 11-17 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajfn/2/1/3 © Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/ajfn-2-1-3 Proximate Analysis, Mineral Contents, Amino Acid Composition, Anti-Nutrients and Phytochemical Screening of Brachystegia Eurycoma Harms and Pipper Guineense Schum and Thonn Ajayi Olubunmi Bolanle, Akomolafe Seun Funmilola * , Adefioye Adedayo Department of Biochemistry, Ekiti State University, Ado- Ekiti, Nigeria *Corresponding author: purposefulseun@yahoo.co.uk Received June 18, 2013; Revised August 25, 2013; Accepted March 03, 2014 Abstract The proximate, mineral and amino acid compositions of two different seeds belonging to different families; Brachystegia eurycoma harms and Pipper guineense schum and thonn were investigated. The proximate analysis revealed the values of carbohydrate, fat, crude protein, crude fibre, ash and moisture contents present to be 53.57%, 4.49%, 8.75%, 17.20%, 5% and 10.60%; 46.57%, 17.30%, 9.33%, 4.20%, 9.90% and 12.70% respectively. Minerals present are Ca (0.64), Na (0.09), K (0.25), Fe (0.111), Mg (0.05) and Mn (0.066) for Brachystegia eurycoma harms and Ca (0.42), K (0.81), Na (0.32), Ph (0.25), Zn (0.081), Mg (0.04) and Mn(0.098) in ppm. The anti-nutrient constituents of both seeds revealed the presence of tannins, phytate and cyanide at relatively low concentrations. Phytochemical screening also analysed for the seeds were all positive except glycosides and anthraquinones which are negative in Brachystegia eurycoma harms and Pipper guineense schum and thonn respectively. This shows that both seeds have therapeutic roles in living organisms. The amino acid (AA) analysis revealed that AA was more concentrated in B. eurycoma harms with the total value of 42.28g/100g than 38.78g/100g of P. guineense schum and thonn. The former also exceeded the later in total EAA by difference of 4.67g/100g. The P-PER and pI both seeds were 2.59; 2.54 and 2.61; 2.18, while the limiting AA was Met + Cys (0.40) and Ile (0.28) for B. eurycoma harms and P. Guineense schum and thonn respectively. Keywords: Brachystegia eurycoma harms, Pipper guineense schum and thonn, proximate, minerals, anti-nutrients, phytochemicals and amino acids Cite This Article: Ajayi Olubunmi Bolanle, Akomolafe Seun Funmilola, and Adefioye Adedayo, “Proximate Analysis, Mineral Contents, Amino Acid Composition, Anti-Nutrients and Phytochemical Screening of Brachystegia Eurycoma Harms and Pipper Guineense Schum and Thonn.” American Journal of Food and Nutrition, vol. 2, no. 1 (2014): 11-17. doi: 10.12691/ajfn-2-1-3. 1. Introduction The plant kingdom (especially the legumes) has proven to be the most useful in the treatment of diseases and they provide an important source of all the world’s pharmaceuticals. The most important of these bioactive constituents of plants are steroids, terpenoids, carotenoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins and glycosides. Plants in all facet of life have served a valuable starting material for drug development [1]. Antibiotics or antimicrobial substances like saponins, glycosides, flavonoids and alkaloids etc are found to be distributed in plants, yet these compounds were not well established due to the lack of knowledge and techniques [2]. The phytoconstituents which are phenols, anthraquinones, alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids and saponins are antibiotic principles of plants. Brachystegia eurycoma also called 'achi' in Igbo speaking states of Nigeria is an underutilized legume, while Pipper guineense Schum and Thonn although also an underutilized legume called “Black pepper” is a climbing perennial plant of the family, Piperaceae. It is a highly spicy plant, which provides oil, used as aromatic in the drink industry and medicinally. It is widely used in insect pest control. This study therefore aimed at evaluating the chemical and nutritional composition of both Brachystegia eurycoma harms and Pipper guineense schum and thonn, and the objective was to highlight their potential as feed supplements and medicinal benefits to humans. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Collection of Plant Materials The two plant seeds; Brachystegia eurycoma harms and Pipper guineense schum and thonn were all obtained from Ikare-Akoko and Akungba-Akoko markets respectively and were identified in the Plant Science Department, Faculty of Science, Adekunle Ajasin University,