Nutritional and Functional Composition of Charcoal from Terminalia Catappa

The plant known as Terntinalia catappa is used in folk medicine to treat heart conditions like angina pectoris and hypertension. Its leaves, roots, and stem bark are also utilized in this regard. To obtain a distinct therapeutic result, herbalists frequently pyrolyze certain components, such as the stem, to charcoal. Charcoal has a long history of being used as an anti-poisonous material that has no nutritional or medical value. In this work, the stem bark of Terminalia catappa was biochemically converted to charcoal, and its proximate minerals and phytocompounds were assessed using established techniques such as gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP AES), and AOAC 2005. Fresh stem bark was removed from the tree, dried in the sun, and then allowed to transform completely into charcoal and a highly porous substance with a huge surface area in an airtight Themofitcher mume furnace that was operated at 1450 oc without oxygen for nearly an hour. Charcoal was pulverized to smooth powder and then subjected to analysis. Proximate analysis reveals that Terminalia catappa charcoal is contain primary nutrients such as carbohydrates (65.20±4.34), proteins (5.68±0.21), crude fibre (8.31±1.10), and ash (13.20±2.10) and moisture content (7.50±0.10) %. Mineral analysis of the extract revealed the presence of essential minerals such as calcium (128.26±11.09), copper (0.83±0.001), magnesium (77.80±9.08), iron (24.51±5.08), manganese (1.83±0.05) and zinc (4.59±0.12) mg/100g as the most abundant, which are crucial for numerous cellular processes. Two (2) phytochemical substances, stigmastan-3, 5-diene (6.76 %), an important plant sterol, and methyl 6-beta-galactopyranoside (93.24 0/0), a carbohydrate ester, were found by GC-MS. Data from the study show that activated charcoal contains minerals and bioactive that may lower cholesterol, enhance heart health, and minimize the risk of cardiovascular diseases.