Introduction. In Nigeria, the species M. barteri is under-exploited although the tree is of both medicinal and nutritional importance. It bears succulent black-purple fruits that are edible and stain the tongue. The seeds are often with a conspicuous caruncle, with the endosperm present or absent. We studied the nutritive values of the fruit and seeds. Materials and methods. After sampling the fruits in a forest of Abia State, Nigeria, they were washed and opened. The seeds were removed from the succulent portion (pulp). Both pulp and seeds were dried in an oven at 65 °C for 5 h, before being ground to obtain powdery samples. The crude protein, moisture, crude fat, crude fiber, ash contents, total carbohydrate, vitamin contents (A, C, E, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin) and mineral elements were determined. Results and discussion. The analyses showed that both the fruit and seed of M. barteri are good sources of essential dietary nutrients. The values obtained are comparably higher than those reported for some common tropical African fruits.

Introduction. The raphia palm tree is found in abundance in the southern part of Nigeria, especially in the southeastern part. It is grown mainly for its production of palm wine. It also bears fruits (Raphia hookeri) whose pulp is considered edible in some parts of the country and not edible in other parts. Materials and methods. Conventional methods of analysis were used to investigate the vitamin, phytochemical and toxic element composition of the pulp and seed of the fruit. Results. The investigation shows that the pulp has higher concentrations of vitamin E (1.04 mg·100 g–1), niacin (0.2 mg·100 g–1), alkaloid (5 g·kg–1), saponins (3.6 g·kg–1), flavonoids (4 g·kg–1) and phenols (4.1 g·kg–1) than the seed, but the seed has higher values of vitamin A (0.16 mg·100g–1), thiamine (0.07 mg·100 g–1), riboflavin (0.07 mg·100 g–1), nitrates (3.05 mg·100 g–1) and nitrites (0.29 mg·100 g–1), and of the toxic elements: lead (0.03 µg·g–1), mercury (0.04 µg·g–1), arsenic (0.23 µg·g–1) and cadmium (0.04 µg·g–1) than the pulp. Conclusion. The pulp and seed of R. hookeri are non-toxic and can serve as food as well as in medicine.