## 3 Results
### Occurrence of Bioactive Molecules  
There were 18 distinct bioactive molecules (bio-compounds) that were detected in the leaves of the four common leafy vegetables. The bio-compounds varied widely in molecular size. Both the largest (755, 2135) and smallest (191, 0184) bioactive compounds occurred in the spider plant while the check leafy vegetable (Swiss chard) possessed an additional three unique compounds namely apin, apigein-7-6\({}^{\prime\prime}\)-malonylnebespiridosine and isohannetin-3-4\({}^{\prime}\)-glucose (Table 4). In addition, the spider plant leaves possessed the highest number of unique bioactive molecules (five) followed by Swiss chard (three) (Table 4). In contrast, jute mallow leaves contained only two bioactive molecules which included quercetin-3\({}^{\prime}\)-glucose. At least one unique bioactive molecule was detected each in cowpea (chartreusin) and pumpkin (3-desmethyl-5-deshydroxyseleroin). None of the eight quercetin-related derivatives that were present variably among the four common leafy vegetables were detected in Swiss chard. Moreover, most of the quercetin derivatives were detected in the spider plant leaves (Table 4) (Supplementary Figure S3). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c l c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Code**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Name**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Molecular**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Molecular**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Rank**} & \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Leafy Vegetable**} \\ \cline{6-11}  & & & & & & & & & \\ \cline{6-11}  & & & & & & & & & \\ \hline
1 & Apin & C\({}_{26}\)H\({}_{28}\)O\({}_{4}\) & 563.14 & 11 & - & - & - & - & ++ \\
2 & Apigein 7-6\({}^{\prime\prime}\)-malonyl & & & & & & & & \\  & neoheseriedoside & & & & & & & & \\
3 & Chartreusin & C\({}_{23}\)H\({}_{20}\)O\({}_{4}\) & 609.14 & 8 & ++ & - & - & - & - \\
4 & Crotonoside & C\({}_{19}\)H\({}_{13}\)N\({}_{5}\)O\({}_{5}\) & 282.08 & 16 & - & - & - & + & + \\
5 & Citric acid & C\({}_{46}\)H\({}_{57}\)O\({}_{7}\) & 191.02 & 21 & - & - & - & ++ & - \\
6 & Isoquercetin/ Quercetin 3\({}^{\prime}\)-glucose & & & & & & & & \\
7 & Isohannetin-3,4\({}^{\prime}\)-diglucoside & C\({}_{28}\)H\({}_{32}\)O\({}_{17}\) & 639.16 & 3 & - & - & - & - & ++ \\
8 & Xempfer3 -O\({}_{7}\)-nutinoside & C\({}_{27}\)H\({}_{20}\)N\({}_{5}\) & 593.16 & 10 & - & - & - & ++ & - \\
9 & P-Hydroyphenyl butazone & C\({}_{21}\)H\({}_{20}\)N\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\) & 323.13 & 13 & + & + & - & - \\
10 & Quercetin & C\({}_{15}\)H\({}_{10}\)O\({}_{7}\) & 301.04 & 15 & - & - & - & ++ & - \\
11 & Quercetin 3\({}^{\prime}\)-glucose & C\({}_{21}\)H\({}_{20}\)O\({}_{12}\) & 463.09 & 12 & + & - & - & + & - \\
12 & Quercetin 3-methyl ether & C\({}_{16}\)H\({}_{20}\)O\({}_{17}\) & 315.07 & 14 & - & + & + & - \\
13 & Quercetin 3-O\({}_{7}\)-nutinoside & C\({}_{27}\)H\({}_{30}\)O\({}_{16}\) & 609.15 & 4 & + & - & + & + & - \\
14 & Quercetin 3-(2G-d-hamosyltrutinoside) & C\({}_{33}\)H\({}_{40}\)O\({}_{20}\) & 755.21 & 1 & - & - & - & ++ & - \\
15 & Quercetin 3-4-di-Oglucoside & C\({}_{27}\)H\({}_{30}\)O\({}_{17}\) & 609.14 & 5 & - & - & - & ++ & - \\
16 & Rutin/quercetin 3-O-rutinoside & C\({}_{27}\)H\({}_{30}\)O\({}_{17}\) & 609.14 & 6 & + & - & + & - & - \\
17 & Sucrose & C\({}_{21}\)H\({}_{20}\)O\({}_{11}\) & 243.06 & 19 & + & - & + & - & - \\
18 & Uridine & C\({}_{9}\)H\({}_{12}\)N\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{6}\) & 243.06 & 19 & - & - & - & + & + \\
19 & Vicenin-1 6\({}^{\prime\prime}\)-O-acetate & C\({}_{28}\)H\({}_{30}\)O\({}_{15}\) & 605.15 & 9 & - & - & - & - & - \\
20 & 3-desmethyl 5-deshydroxy seleroin & C\({}_{14}\)H\({}_{12}\)O\({}_{4}\) & 243.06 & 18 & - & - & ++ & - & - \\
21 & 8-hydroxy-2-deoxy guanosine & C\({}_{10}\)H\({}_{13}\)N\({}_{5}\)O\({}_{5}\) & 282.08 & 17 & + & + & + & - & - \\ \hline  & Total & - & - & - & 7 & 2 & 7 & 10 & 5 \\  & Unique & - & - & - & 1 & 0 & 1 & 5 & 3 \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
* - a absent; + = present; ++ = uniquely present.  
\end{table} 
Table 3: Mean separation for leaf mineral content among four common traditional leafy vegetables and one standard (Swiss chard).