Economic potentialities of some plants growing naturally in the nile delta region, Egypt

Abstract EN

Flora of Egypt appeared promising as raw materials for various uses e.g.

industrial, grazing, pharmaceutical, etc.

The species growing naturally in the Nile Delta region namely: Biden’s pilosa, Digit aria sanguinalis, Echinochloa crus-galli, Lactuca serriola, Lepidium sativum, Lolium perenne, Malva parviflora, Paspalidium geminatum, Portulaca oleracea and Saccharum spontaneum had been investigated.

The preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of carbohydrates, sterols, alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, chlorides and sulphates in shoot system of all the studied plants.

Moisture, ash, water soluble ash, acid insoluble ash, total nitrogen, total proteins, total lipids, crude fibre, glucose, sucrose, total soluble sugars and polysaccharides together with some elements were estimated.

The highest values of total proteins and lipids were estimated in Saccharum spontaneum, while the highest total carbohydrates were measured in Lactuca serriola.

The elementary analysis of the studied plants indicate that potassium, sodium, and calcium were the main cations.

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the protein amino acids revealed the presence of seventeen amino acids with high values of aspartic acid, glutamic acid and proline.

These results indicate that these selected plants may be used as highly potential natural plants.