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Abstract

Background and Objective Taraxacum officinale dandelion leaves are used as common vegetable and eaten as salad or cooked in soups and sauces by Nigerians. Several studies revealed that wild or semi-wild plants are nutritionally important because of their high vitamins, minerals, proteins, essential fatty acids and fibre contents. Apart from being nutritious, dandelion leaves are believed to have some medicinal properties like being diuretic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anticancer etc. The objective of the study was to determine the nutritional and pharmacological potential of ethanolic leaves extract of Taraxacum officinale so as to a mass data to support and encourage its usage in human nutrition and in disease treatment. Materials and Methods Fresh leaves of Taraxacum officinale were obtained. The fresh leaves were washed, dried and ground to powdered form and then an extract was formed using ethanol. The extract was used for the various analysis i.e., phytochemical, proximate, elemental analysis as well as antioxidant and antibacterial activity. Results The proximate analysis of Taraxacum officinale showed high percentage of crude fiber followed by ash and carbohydrate contents with crude protein having the least percentage. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, terpenes and phenolic compounds in the leaves. The mineral elements analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry of the leaves enumerate elements like Mg, Na, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cr. The leaves extract possess some degree of antimicrobial activities on E. coli and S. aureus, while P. aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi showed no activity. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH assay, where the plant leaves extract shows promising antioxidant potentiality. Conclusion The results indicated that, the leaves are potential sources of useful nutrients and could be used to fulfil the growing demands of plant-based food.