Investigating the heat stability, calorimetric degradations and chromatographic polyphenolic profiling of edible macerated hog-tree apple leaf (Morinda lucida Benth)

The increasing demand for food-based bio-products has necessitated screening characterizations and microstructural elucidation. In this study, different analytical techniques were employed to investigate the thermal stability, morphological changes and phenolic profile of macerated hog-tree apple leaf. TGA peak heights from the thermo-gravimetric decomposition curve could be attributed to mass evaporation and simultaneous removal of residual moisture from the sample accounting for 0.9239 mg mass loss from 5.825 mg of the total sample. The TGA results suggest that the 87 polyphenolic metabolites recovered from the sample occurred between 71.94 °C and 243.55 °C with 3.871 mg mass loss from 5.825 mg from the total sample loading. In this region eighty-seven compounds were identified which include mainly the phenolic and flavonoids viz: isochlorogenic acid, trans-ferulaldehyde, 10-O-methylprotosappanin, moracin G, terchebin, geraniin, albaspidin AA. These has been reported in previous studies as strong antioxidant compounds. Moreover, the SEM monograph generated further elucidated the morphological changes and surface degradation of Morinda lucida Benth which resulted in the exudation of phenolic constituents. The result of this investigation could, therefore, be used as blueprints for storage and post-harvest processing of edible M. lucida Benth.