STUDY ON THE PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS, PROXIMATE AND QUANTITATIVE PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF WHITE FONIO (Digitaria exilis) AND BLACK FONIO (Digitaria iburua) IN FUNAKAYE LGA, GOMBE STATE.

A study was conducted on the physiological characteristics, proximate and quantitative phytochemical analysis of white fonio (Digitaria exilis) and black fonio (Digitaria iburua) originating from West Africa. Fonio is an important traditional African cereal crop yet neglected with little attention as revealed from the literature. Fonio is a potential plant that can significantly contribute in improving economic status, nutritional and health benefits due to its shorter lifecycle and drought tolerance for food security. The current study can serve as a baseline for further studies in the areas of genetic engineering and plant breeding for seed size and higher yield improvement. The study was conducted at Gombe State Polytechnic, Bajoga, Nigeria. The parameters studied for the physiological analysis were: plant height, number of leaves, leaf area and number of tillers, number of spikes, spike length index, number of seeds per spikelet as well as thousand seeds weight and number of days to flowering. Standard methods and procedures of analysis were used to determine the nutritional compositions such as crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, carbohydrate, moisture and ash of the cereals. However, qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening were conducted to evaluate the presence and amounts of bioactive compounds contained in the cereals using ethanol as a solvent. From the result of this study, it can be concluded that both black and white Fonio can offer considerable nutrients needed for proper functioning of the body. The values of all the parameters studied show that these cereal grains can provide substantial recommended daily intake of these nutrients. The plant could be the best candidate having the desirable characters for crop improvement, higher nutritional value and constituting a broader range of bioactive compounds. Thus, this study can serve as a base line for crop and higher yield improvement and if harness properly will be of great importance in food, health and nutritional security of the citizens.