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Proximate compositions of Ipomea aquatic Forsk. (leaf, petiole and stem) from
Lubok Bungor, Jeli, Kelantan

Conference Paper in AIP Conference Proceedings · September 2019

DOI: 10.1063/1.5125564

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Proximate compositions of Ipomea aquatic
Forsk. (leaf, petiole and stem) from Lubok
Bungor, Jeli, Kelantan
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2155, 020060 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5125564
Published Online: 06 September 2019

Amir Husni Mohd Shariff, Norul Aqidah Shapiai, Mona Zakaria, Jahurul Md Haque Akanda, Nor Qhairul Izzreen Mohd
Noor, Mohd Hazim Mohd Yusop, and Umi Hartina Mohd Razali

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© 2019 Author(s).
 Proximate Compositions of Ipomea aquatic Forsk. (leaf,
petiole and stem) from Lubok Bungor, Jeli, Kelantan.
Amir Husni Mohd Shariff 1, a), Norul Aqidah Shapiai 2, b), Mona Zakaria 3, c), Jahurul
Md Haque Akanda 1, d), Nor Qhairul Izzreen Mohd Noor 1, e) Mohd Hazim Mohd
Yusop 1, f) and Umi Hartina Mohd Razali 1, g)
1
Faculty of Food Science & Food Nutrition, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah,
Malaysia
2
Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, 16100, Malaysia
3
CELPAD, International Islamic University (UIA), Kuantan Campus, 25200, Pahang, Malaysia
g)
Corresponding author: umi.hartina@ums.edu.my
a)
amir.husni@ums.edu.my
b)
aqidahshapiai@gmail.com
c)
monayap@iium.edu.my
d)
jahurul@ums.edu.my
e)
qhairul@ums.edu.my
f)
mohd.hazim@ums.edu.my

Abstract. Water spinach has been recognized as a rich source of minerals, bioactive compounds, vitamins and
antioxidants. Its importance has attracted a lot of scientific research to assess their nutrients content. In this study, three
parts of water spinach, namely: leaf, petiole and stem were examined. The objective of this study was to determine the
content of crude protein, fat, carbohydrate, ash, fibre, moisture content and pH in leave, petiole and stem of water
spinach. The differences of the nutritional content between the water spinach parts were then compared. Based on this
study, stem contained the highest concentration of crude protein (4.36±0.05 g/100g), fibre (6.02±0.20 g/100g) which is
significantly difference from the other two parts, and to some degree, fat (2.36±0.20 g/100g), even though with non-
significance difference with petiole. High amounts of carbohydrate (7.53±0.92 g/100g) is recorded in the leaf, which is
highly significant from the stem and the petiole and is incline towards alkalinity as indicated by the pH value (6.11±0.02
g/100g). The petiole is significantly rich in moisture (79.26±0.54 g/100g) compared to leaf & stem. Whilst, petiole has
the highest percentage of crude ash 10.29±0.75 g/100g, which is significantly different from the leaf at 8.69±0.75g/100g
but remains non significance to the stem at 9.75±0.37g/100g. This study showed that stem of water spinach has the most
complete nutrients in the form of crude protein, fat and fibre compared to petiole and leaf, and is available all year round.

Keywords: water spinach, proximate composition, leaf, stem and petiole.

INTRODUCTION
Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatic Forsk.) is a vascular semi-aquatic plant native to tropics and subtropics that
grows wild and are cultivated in Southeast Asia, India and Southern China [1]. Water spinach is herbaceous
perennial plant, in which belong to the family of Convolvulaceae. It has a long, hollow and vine stem, grow
prostrate or floating and the roots are produced from the nodes and penetrate wet soil or mud. It also known as water
and marsh plant with creeping and shiny green leaves. It is cultivated for human food and used to feed pigs and
other animals in Cambodia and throughout Southeast Asia. The leaf shape ranges from sagittate to lanceolate [1].
This plant has been recognized as a rich source minerals, bioactive compounds, vitamins and antioxidants [2]. Wild

Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Biosciences and Medical Engineering (ICBME2019)
AIP Conf. Proc. 2155, 020060-1–020060-6; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5125564
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1900-1/$30.00

020060-1
leafy vegetables of this plant known as being the first edible plant part to grow coupled with relative abundance
compared to other plant parts, in which particularly advantageous during food shortage. This important feature
demonstrated by the wild leafy vegetable attracts a lot of scientific research to assess their nutrients content [3]
The fresh leaves and stems of water spinach have crude protein content of between 20 % and 31 % on dry matter
basis [4]. It also has been successfully used to replace part of the protein in a diet of sugar cane juice for breeding
sows [5]. Prak Kea et al. [6] reported that there was a linear increase in growth rates in pigs fed with water spinach,
palm oil and broken rice and were able to replace up to 6 % fish meal (in diet, Dry Matter). Water spinach was
more palatable and had higher digestibility rate than cassava leaves [7].
The aim of this study was to determine the content of crude protein, fat, carbohydrate, ash, fibre, moisture
content and pH in leave, petiole and stem of water spinach. Also, to compare the differences of those nutritional
contents between leave, petiole and stem of water spinach and to identify which parts provide the most nutritional
status.

EXPERIMENTAL

Sampling, Materials & Methods

For the Ipomoea aquatica Forsk. sampling method, Completely Randomized Selection was adopted. Water
spinach samples from Lubuk Bungor, were collected at Jeli Wet Market, Kelantan. Ten (10) composited Ipomoea
aquatic Forsk. samples each of petiole, leaf and stem were sampled for this study. The following chemicals: Boric
acid, 6754-00, R&U, Sulphuric acid, 57061-01-2500, QREC, Hydrochloric acid, A8040-1-2500, QREC, Sodium
hydroxide, B047498013, Merck, Petroleum ester, C1197-11104779, Bendozen, Bovine Serum Albumin, B05AA01,
MIMS, Phosphate buffer, LC18500-1, APHA, pH buffer, HI50007, Hanna & Potassium hydroxide, B0008533702,
Merck were utilized in this study. Crude protein, fat, carbohydrate, ash, fibre, moisture content and pH in the
samples were analyzed by using Kjeldahl method [8], Soxhlet extraction [9], Subtraction method [10] ignition
procedure [11] fibre bag procedure [9] dry analysis [9] and pH meter [12], respectively. The moisture content in
each sample was removed by drying in the oven (Redline brand) at 50 oC for 6 days. The pre-treated samples of leaf,
stem and petiole were separately ground using laboratory blender Warring of Germany. Each of the sample was
packed in a sterilized plastic container prior to analysis.

Data Collection & Analysis

For the analysis, the analyses of concentration in the samples were expressed in percentage (%). The data were
analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 19.0. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
statistical analysis was used to analyze the differences between parts of water spinach. Turkey post-hoc statistical
analysis was used to analyze the correlation between data.

RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS

Table 1 shows the mean concentrations of 10 composite samples of proximate analysis in three different parts of
water spinach: petiole, leaf and stem whilst Figures 1, showed an individual composite sample of 10 readings from
each of the part under investigation. From Table 1, it can be seen that the stem contains two-fold higher of crude
protein concentration (4.36+0.05 %) (g/100g) than the leaf (2.87+0.7 %) (g/100g) and petiole (2.06+0.05 %)
(g/100g) and similarly for fibre (6.02+0.20 b %) (g/100g), which also differ significantly from leaf (5.40 ± 0.20 %)
(g/100g) and petiole (4.45 ± 0.44 %) (g/100g). It is interesting to note that value of fat (2.36+0.20 %) is the highest
in the stem, differed significantly from the leaf (1.87+0.50 %) (g/100g) but not with petiole (2.17+0.10 %) (g/100g).
Protein is a key component in living cells, both plant and animals. Protein is the largest component after water in
some large body tissues. Crude protein content of freshwater spinach in this study, exhibits relatively high
percentage in the stem 4.36+0.20 %, (g/100g) moderate in leaf 2.87+0.07 % (g/100g) and 2.06+0.05 % (g/100g) in
petioles, all significantly difference (Table 1 & Figures 1). This finding is within the crude protein water spinach
established by Farida et al. [13] at 2.06 %, lower to Ogle et al. [14] (4.24%), also to Umar et al. [15] at 6.3%. These
difference figures are believed to be attributed to the habitat in-situ [16-18]. In comparison with other species, the
crude protein content obtained in present study is lower compared to 11.29 % in balsam apple leaf [19], 24.85% in
sweet potatoes leaves, Piper guineeses and Talinum triangulare with values of 29.78% and 31.00% respectively

020060-2
[20]. In addition, Wills & Rangga, [21] reported that the foliage of Chinese vegetables contains crude protein in the
range of 23.6% in the dry season and 27.6% in the wet season. The above figures were merely indicating that water
spinach protein content in the foliage is inferior in comparison to the other species mentioned above. Generally,
crude protein levels in plants are of lower quality than that of animals. Animal protein provided high amount of
high-quality amino acids & essential amino acids [22, 23]. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for children,
adult males, adult females, pregnant women, and lactating mothers are 28g, 63g, 50g, 60g and 65g of protein daily,
respectively [24].
High amount of carbohydrate (7.53+0.92 %) (g/100g) is recorded in the leaf, which is highly significance from
the stem (2.05 ± 0.33 %) (g/100g) and the petiole (1.77 ± 0.22 %) (g/100g) (Table 1 & Figures 1). It is also
interesting to note that the pH leaf is incline to alkalinity condition (6.11±0.02 %) and differ significantly to both
stem (5.66±0.10) and petiole (5.30±0.03), (Table 1 & Figures 1). Petiole in particular is significantly rich in
moisture (79.26±0.54 %) (g/100g) compared to the leaf) (73.17 ± 1.37 %) (g/100g) and stem (75.74 ± 0.44 %)
(g/100g). In addition, ash concentrations are highest in the petiole is 10.29+0.75 % (g/100g) and differ significantly
from the leaf at 8.69+0.75 % (g/100g) but remains non significance to the stem at 9.75+0.37 %, (g/100g) based on
Table 1 & Figures 1. High concentration of micronutrients & macronutrients in the petiole has been reported by
Gusyana [25], Nida et al. [26] and Amir et al. [27] respectively. High concentrations of ash indicated a nutritionally
rich minerals presence in the petiole. Ogle et al. [14] reported the petiole of water spinach from Vietnam to contain
14.44 % crude ash, whilst leaf from Ipomoea spp. from Swaziland. Elsewhere, crude ash concentrations in leaves of
other species are: 1.8% in sweet potato [28], Tribulus terrestris, 5% & Amaranthus, hybridus, 19.6% [29] and 18%
in Balsam apple [19]. High ash availability can be due to the differences in terrestrial habitats and the environment
in-situ [16-18]. Furthermore, each organism has different capabilities in absorbing and regulating the minerals, in
which will eventually influence the rate of ash in each material [23].
Interestingly, petiole has high moisture values (79.26±0.54 %) (g/100g), compared to stem (75.74±0.44 %)
(g/100g) and leaf (73.17±1.37 %) (g/100g), with significance difference at P<0.5% amongst them. Previous studied
by Farida et al. [13] found water spinach moisture composition to be exceptionally high (89 %). In comparison with
other studies from Africa, the leaf moisture content in this study was within the range of 58-91 % as reported in
some Nigerian green leafy vegetables [30, 31]. However, some leafy vegetables of Nigeria contained much less
water content, for example, 15% in Xanthosem sagittfolum, 34% in Gnetum buchholsianium, Vernonia amygdaline
27%, Adansonia digitata 9.5% [32]. The variation in the water content can be due to geophysical factor and species
variability [16-18].
Based on this study (Table 1 & Figures 1), water spinach contains fat of 2.36±0.20 % in stem, 2.17±0.10b % in
petioles, with no significance difference at >P.05 and 1.87±0.05 % in leaf and differ significantly with the latter. In
contrast, Farida et al. [13] recorded a much lower fat content of 0.15% in their water spinach findings. According to
Yunizal et al. [33], low levels of fat in the water spinach is contributed by high level of water content, proportional
to the rate of fat decrease. Studies elsewhere, with other species found higher amount of fat in Senna Obtusfolia (12
%), low amounts in Chaya leaves, (0.4 %) and 1.60 % in Amaranthus hybridus leaf, [29]. Lipid is the principal
sources of energy and should not exceed the daily recommended dosage of more than 30 calories to avoid obesity
and other related diseases, where one g of lipid provides 8.37 kcal of energy [28].
TABLE 1: Proximate concentration of leaf, petiole and stem of Ipomoea aquitica Forsk. expressed in percentage
(g/100g) of Lubok Bungor samples and leaf pH.
Leaves Stems Petioles
Moisture Content 73.17 ± 1.37a 75.74 ± 0.44b 79.26 ± 0.54c
Crude Protein 2.87 ± 0.07a 4.36 ± 0.05b 2.06 ± 0.05c
Crude fat 1.87 ± 0.05a 2.36 ± 0.20b 2.17 ± 0.10b
Carbohydrate 7.54 ± 0.93a 2.05 ± 0.33b 1.77 ± 0.22b
Crude ash 8.69 ± 0.75a 9.75 ± 0.37b 10.29 ± 0.75b
pH 6.11 ± 0.02a 5.66 ± 0.01b 5.30 ± 0.03b
Crude Fiber 5.40 ± 0.20a 6.02 ± 0.20b 4.45 ± 0.44c
*Means values in the horizontal column followed by the same letter are not significantly difference at 5% (P<0.05)

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 Carbohydrate content in this study is dominated in the leaf (7.54±0.94 %) (g/100g) which differ significantly
with stem at 2.05±0.33 % (g/100g) and petiole at 1.77±0.22b % (g/100g) (Table 1 & Figures 1). This study is well
within the level of water spinach leaf of 5.84 %, reported by Gusyana [25]. Other vegetable leaves were found to be
rich in carbohydrate, 75 % in sweet potato, Tsaida (Tribulus terrestris), 56 % and 83 % in Corchorus triden [28],
respectively. Hassan & Umar [19] noted that as much as 3000 kcal can be contributed by water spinach fat &
carbohydrate on daily intake.
In terms of fibre content, it is as expected the stem to record the highest amount (6.02±0.2 %) (g/100g), followed
by leaf (5.4±0.2 %) (g/100g), and least in petiole (4.45±0.44 %) (g/100g), where all differ significantly from each
other at P <0.5%, (Table 1 & Figures 1). In contrast, extremely low fibre content (1.8 %) was noted by Farida et al.
[13] in their studies on water spinach in Indonesia. The differences in the present study and that of Farida et al. [13]
are believed to be attributed to the habitat in-situ [16-18]. Elsewhere, Ifon and Bassir [34] found the range of crude
fibre content of leafy vegetables from their studies to be between 8.5 to 20.9% ; the sweet potato leaf at 7.20 %
[28], Tribubus terrestris leaf with 13% [29], and 29% in Balsam apple leaf [19]. Dietary fibre in general, helps in
reducing the serum cholesterol level and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, colon and breast cancer as well as
hypertension [24]. The variation in fibre can be due to geophysical factor and species variability [16-18].

(a)

(b)

(c) 100
80 Moisture Content
60 Crude Protein
40 Crude Fat
20 Carbohydrate
0 Crude Ash
Fibre

FIGURE 1: Proximate composition of ten (10) samples (composite) found in the a) leaves b) petiole c) stem of water
spinach of Lubok Bungor

020060-4
 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION
Based on the study, the results explicitly showed that the percentage of moisture content and ash were highest in
petioles of water spinach. Whilst the stem had the highest percentage of crude protein, fat, fibre compared to leaf
and petioles. The leaf had higher percentage in carbohydrate and more incline to alkaline flavor. This study shows
that stem of water spinach has the most complete nutrients in the form of crude protein, fat and fibre than petiole and
leaf. It is recommended that Malaysian should take in more water spinach as it highly nutritious with a low price and
easily available throughout the year. The preference for the leaf only, should be reviewed since the petiole and the
stem are high in proximate compound and minerals too.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are grateful for the UMK research support to Author 1 and UMS to grant permission to work & publish this
manuscript.

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