PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND ANTI-NUTRITIONAL FACTORS OF SOME UNDERUTILIZED TUBERS (DIOSCOREA SPP AND COLEUS ESCULENTUS) GROWN IN CAMEROON

Food insecurity is a threat to most countries in Africa despite the presence of many food commodities. The objective of this work was to determine the nutritional composition and anti-nutritional factors of four underutilized tuber species (Dioscorea spp and Coleus esculentus) in Cameroon. The nutritional composition and contents in anti-nutritional factors wereanalysedusing standard analytical methods. Analysis of Variance (p <0.05) revealed a significant difference in the levels of the parameters analysed in the different varieties of tubers. All the tubers were low in lipids (0.5 - 2.36 %) with traces of soluble sugars (0.24 - 0.40%), some amount of proteins (2.43 -8.95%), crude fibres (2.32 -8.34%), high levels of available carbohydrates (76.40 - 90.19%), starch (76.11 -89.91% dry weight) and energy (363.91 - 385.11 Kcal/100g dry weight). The most abundant minerals were potassium (217 -557 mg), phosphorus (83 - 215 mg), magnesium (29- 264 mg/100g) and Copper (23 -617 ?g/100g dry weight). They had low levels of sodium (<18mg/100g) and iron (18 - 46 ?g/100g dry weight). All the tubers contained the antinutrients:tannins, oxalates, phytates and saponins,below toxic levels. These tubers could therefore contribute nutrients for human nutrition and for the management of some nutritional illnesses.