Estimation of phytochemicals and determination of β- carotene in Haematocarpus validus — An underutilized fruit of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Singh D.R., Banu V. Shajeeda Division of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural Research Institute, Post Box No. 181, Garacharma (Post), Port Blair – 744 101, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Email: drsinghhort66@gmail.com; Mobile: +91 9434264404 Online published on 4 December, 2019. Abstract Haematocarpus validus (Menispermaceae) has been reported herein for the first time from Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This iron-rich fruit is one among the lesser known and underutilized plant. Phytochemical profiling and estimation of anti-nutritional factors of three different fruit fractions viz., pulp, pericarp and seed have been carried out and it was found that pulp invariably had the highest amounts of all the estimated phytochemicals; total polyphenol (400 GAE mg/100g), flavonoid (542 RE mg/100g), tannin (275.56 TAE mg/100 g) and anthocyanin (203.77 C3GE mg/100g). Among the antinutritional factors, pulp contained lower amounts of nitrate, phytate, saponin and oxalate. The RP- HPLC chromatogram revealed its richness in beta carotenoid. Top Keywords Andaman Grapes, Haematocarpus validus, Phyto-chemical, Anti-nutritional factors. Top |