Botswana herbal tea quality assessmentt: antioxidant activity, proximate and metal content analysis of terminalia prunioides pods tea.

Studies have linked herbal teas to the prevention of many diseases, leading to an increase in

their use and demand which has endorsed an increase in their commercial activity and

production. Consequently, performing a quality assessment of herbal teas in Botswana to

determine their safety, medicinal and economical value has become of greater importance. The

quality assessment tools used in this study entail: Antioxidant activity profiling using 2,2-

diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), Total phenolic content (TPC) and metal chelation activity

as well as proximate and metal content analysis. The brewing conditions of 80o C at 60 minutes

gave the best antioxidant activity at the lowest DPPH IC50 value of 0.1600 ± 0.0489 µg/mL

and the highest TPC of 12319.880 ±0.622 mg GAE/g. The proximate analysis showed that

Terminalia prunioides pods contained ash 3.8816 ± 0.1254%, moisture 9.3265 ± 1.5362 %,

Crude fiber 7.5908 ± 1.4409 %, and protein 0.00662 ± 0.000717%. The metal content profile

showed the presence of the following essential metal elements potassium 10078 ± 325.0 mg/L,

calcium 8930 ± 875.1 mg/L, sodium 722.4 ± 250.2 mg/L, and magnesium 2205 ± 65.10 mg/L.

The heavy metals present where; Arsenic 1.310 ± 0.08020, chromium 2.380 ± 0.7650 mg/L,

copper 16.01 ± 0.3503 mg/L, manganese 28.70 ± 0.6001 mg/L, nickel 0.7600 ± 0.1210 mg/L,

lead 4.245 ± 1.575 mg/L, Fe 306.5 ± 1.610, cobalt 1.290 ± 0.1550 mg/L and zinc 1.413 ±

0.6002 mg/L. The elements that were found at permissible values are K, Ca, Mg, Na, Mn, Ni,

and Fe, whilst As, Cu, Cr, Co, Zn, and Pb were found at higher values. The tea contains

desirable essential minerals such as K, Mg, Ca, Na, Mn, Fe, and Ni and is an excellent source

of polyphenolic components that can be explored as a source of dietary antioxidants. The

proximate analysis data is also sufficient for herbal tea to be considered as a food product. All

three profiles provided preliminary scientific data to ensure the quality and efficacy of

Terminalia prunioides pods as herbal tea. Therefore, this phytochemistry study shows that

Terminalia prunioides pods have the potential to be used in herbal tea formulations.