Biochemical components of the selected Macroflora associated with the Neyyar, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

Neyyar, the southernmost river of Kerala, originating from the Agasthaymala flows through the Neyyattinkara taluk of Thiruvananthapuram district. Ten identified stations were selected, macroflora associated with the river were collected and analyzed various biochemical components namely lipid, protein and carbohydrate adopting various standard methods. Seasonally minimum lipid, protein and carbohydrate content were registered in Saccharum spontaneum (Station 5), Cyperus tenuispica (Station 8) and Saccharum spontaneum (Station 4) respectively and the corresponding maxima in Pityrogramma calomelanos, Colocacia antiquorum and Limnocharis flava. On an annual basis it showed a pattern with lipid < carbohydrate < protein in all the selected macrophytes. Higher accumulation of protein and carbohydrate were registered in Colocacia antiquorum and Limnocharis flava, suggesting that it can be exploited as food, feed and fodder.