BIOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF FIVE WILD FOOD PLANTS USED DURING WELDING PERIOD IN SOUTHERN MALI

The fight against malnutrition has become one of the major concerns of many countries today. The most exposed are infants, older subjects and pregnant women. In sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly in Mali, studies have shown that wild food plants could help to combat effectively the malnutrition. The goal of this work was to contribute to the valorization of these picking products through a biochemical assessment of five wild food plants used during the welding period in southern of Mali. The plant material consisted of the fruits of C. myxa, C. pinnata, D. microcarpum and S. birrea and tubers R. splendens. The reactions in the tube was used to characterize the chemical groups. The monosaccharides were assayed by gas chromatography (GC) and total proteins by the Kjeldhal method. Total lipids were extracted by using soxhlet and quantified by the gravimetric method. The mineral elements were quantified by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The raw energy was evaluated by the calorimetric method of total combustion. The results showed that the wild food plants studied are rich in secondary and primary metabolites, in mineral and energetic elements. The maximum protein, carbohydrate and total lipid levels were obtained respectively in Raphionachmesplendens (11.29%), Sclerocaryabirrea (87.20%) and Detariummicrocarpum (1.32%). GPC revealed relatively high levels of simple sugars, especially glucose (74.76% in S. birrea), which is the most commonly used sugar. The richness of these plants in nutrients, secondary metabolites and minerals could contribute to the fight against malnutrition.