Abstract

As the plants are directly in contact with air, water and soil, the constituents of these sources might contaminate the plants. Useful elements, such as Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, Cu and Co are also usually present in plants which help in good health. Cocculus hirsutus, belongs to the family Menispermaceae and it is a perennial climber mainly used for the treatment of diabetes, laxative, demulcent, anti inflammatory, analgesic and also used as tonic and diuretic. Looking at the medicinal values of C. hirsutus, the present study was aimed to estimate the inorganic constituents and anti-nutritional value for safe use. Essential bulk metal ions were observed to be dominant where potassium was highest while phosphorus was lowest. The decreasing order of essential trace metals ions was Fe>Cu>Zn>Ni>Co>Cr. Among the antinutritional components, oxalic acid was 25.32 mg/100 g, while that of phytic acid was 0.280 mg/100 g, on fresh weight basis.

Key words: Cocculus hirsutus, elements, oxalic acid, phytic acid.