¹Department of Biochemistry Faculty of Science Ekiti State University, P.M.B.5363, Ado-Ekiti (NIGERIA)
²Department of Biochemistry Faculty of Science Ekiti State University, P.M.B.5363, Ado-Ekiti (NIGERIA)

Edible and Non-Edible seeds of underutilized legume, Dioclea reflexa, were investigated for proximate, minerals, anti-nutrient composition and phytochemical constituents. The result of the proximate analysis revealed that the edible seed was richer than that of non-edible seed only in crude fat and carbohydrate with 2.31 ± 0.34% and 56.22 ±
0.12% respectively. The minerals of the non-edible seeds exceeded those of edible in sodium, potassium, magnessium, phosphorus, zinc, iron and manganese, while edible seeds contained higher concentration of minerals only in calcium. The anti-nutrient components revealed the reason for the non-edibility of the non-edible seed with a cyanide concentration of 22.74 ± 0.37. The phytochemicals analysed include phlobatannins, saponins, steroid, cardiac glycosides, alkaloids and flavonoids which were quantitatively higher in non-edible seeds than edible seeds. Some physical and chemical properties of the Dioclea reflexa seeds (Edible and Non-Edible) oils were also investigated. The
edible and non-edible seed oils have specific gravity of 0.9145 ± 0.01 and 0.9131 ± 0.01 respectively and refractive indices of 1.4656 ± 0.00 and 1.4648 ± 0.00 respectively at 30oC. The saponification, iodine, acid values and unsaponifiable matter of the non-edible 206.090mgKOH-g-1 of oil, 113.880g of 100-1 of oil, 0.980mgKOHg-1 and 6.200% respectively exceeded those of the edible seeds, but lower in peroxide values. The total amino acids of both edible and non-edible seeds were calculated to be 73.23g/ 100g and 84.50g/100g respectivley. It was found that glutamate was the most abundant, while tryptophan was the least in both. The total neutral amino acid (TNAA) of the edible and non-edible were 38.575g/100g and 53.583g/100g which formed the bulk of the amino acid.