DETERMINATION OF BOILING EFFECT ON ASCORBIC ACID, TOCOPHEROL, AND VITAMIN A CONTENT IN THE LEAF  OF Ficuscarpensis

ABSTRACT

Ficuscarpensis commonly known as fig tree is a medicinal plant found in tropical forest and grassy woodlands and possesses high antioxidant capacity.This study investigated the concentrationsof antioxidant vitamins: A, C and E in the boiled and fresh leaf extract `of Ficuscarpensis using Spectrophotomer. The result obtained showed that boiling reduced the concentration of Vitamin C (0.26mg/g) compared to that in the fresh leaf (1.445mg/g). Vitamin A and D were not detected in the boiled leaf extract. The fresh leaf contains Vitamin A (0.133mg/g) and Vitamin E (0.41mg/g).This result suggest that these antioxidant vitamins are heat labile and hence can be easily destroyed by heating.