The Journal of Phytopharmacology, 2014;3(1): 35-43 DOI:10.31254/phyto.2014.3106

Research Article

Phytochemical, proximate composition, amino acid profile and characterization of Marijuana (Cannabis sativa L.)

B.S. Audu¹ , P.C. Ofojekwu¹ , A. Ujah¹ , M.N.O. Ajima²

B.S. Audu,P.C. Ofojekwu,A. Ujah,M.N.O. Ajima

1. Department of Zoology, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria
2. Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology, Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Abstract

The phytochemical and proximate compositions, amino acid profile and characterization of Cannabis sativa leaves, stem and seeds were conducted to provide baseline information on its potent in feed materials for its subsequent utilization in supplementing fish nutrition in aquaculture. Phytochemical analysis of the leaves revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, resins, terpins and steroids while the proximate composition had elevated levels of 6.87% moisture, 23% crude protein, 19.97% lipid and 11.8% Ash; 18.95% fibre and 39.70% NFE in the stem and 25.36% crude fiber content in seeds. C. sativa leaf contains 9 Essential Amino Acids (EAA), which have good concentration of methionine and lysine. Characterization of the leaf extracts revealed six clearly-pigmented spots with the highest travelled as cannabinol (CBN). The implications of these findings indicate that C. sativa has potential inclusion in fish feeds requirement, ameliorating stress conditions during handling, sampling and transportation as well as possible utilization to anesthetize fish going by the array of the bioactive compounds present in the crude leaf extracts of the plant.