Abstract

The aim of the this investigation was to study chemical composition in leaflets, rachis and fruits (pericarp) of Chamaerops humilis L. The moisture, ash, total soluble solids, crude fiber, protein and lipids analysis, and mineral composition, were performed using standards analytical methods. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICPMS) was used to determine the concentrations of constituent elements in the leaflets, rachis and fruits of Chamaerops humilis L. collected from West coastal region of Algeria. The protein value ranged from 22.04±1.60 to 30.27±1.60%, fat was 0.53±0.20 to 2.13±0.49%, crude fiber was 18±1 to71±2 %, ash was 3.0±0.5 to 5.1±0.2%, total soluble solids (TSS) was 2.4±0.0 to 4.0±0.0% and moisture was 17.37± 0.12 to 51.68± 0.16%, Titratable acidity was 0.23±0.0 to 0.28±0.01%. The concentration of the minerals ranged from 7,322±0.69 to 1092,549±2.5 μg kg-1 for potassium, 74,760±1.06 to 111,343±1 μg kg-1 for Magnesium, 7,309±1.22 to 62,328±1.9 μg kg-1 for calcium and 14,169 ± 2.01 to 18,456 ± 1.01 μg kg-1for zinc. These results showed that the plant samples would serve as good sources of K, Mg, Ca, Zn and Sr but moderate sources of Fe, Cu and Na while Hg was not detected. All plant parts were rich in proteins, fibers and minerals.

Authors and Affiliations