Biochemical, Anti Microbial and Organoleptic Studies of Spinach (Spinaciaoleracea)

Spinach (Spinaciaoleracea) is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceous. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant (rarely biennial), which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions. The leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to triangular-based, very variable in size from about 2–30 cm long and 1–15 cm broad, with larger leaves at the base of the plant and small leaves higher on the flowering stem. To substantiate this, an analysis of the proximate principles of the samples was carried out using bench science experiments. The proximate profiles of Carbohydrate, Minerals, proteins and Crude fibers were analysed. The study showed a linear increase in Proteins, Carbohydrates, Calcium, Iron, Phosphorous and Vit C content. At the same time the composition of crude fibers were lowered. Encouraging result was obtained to conclude that Spinach ishigh in all nutritional content. Microanalysis was carried out on the extracted spinach sample after which MIC and RT-PCR was carried out. The experiment undertaken confirms the antimicrobial property of the aqueous extracts of spinach. The extract has presence of a bactericidal compound which was evident from the results obtained using Real Time PCR. Therefore aqueous extracts of spinach have an effective antimicrobial activity against severe gastrointestinal tract pathogens such as Salmonella typhi and must be studied against other pathogens as well. Spinach has many health benefits. This plant is loaded with calcium, but very little of spinach's calcium is absorbed by the human body due to the ant nutrient oxalate content.Additionally, there is far more to bone than just calcium. Spinach provides a number of minerals that are essential for strong and healthy bones. These include magnesium, copper, manganese, phosphorus and, particularly zinc. Zinc works synergistically with calcium to "mineralize" calcium into bone. The commercial appeal of spinach was also speculated using value for money (VFM) studies.