Potentials of Neglected Wild Foods: Nutritional Composition of a ‘Plant Meat’ (Nyam Ngub) Prepared From Wild Edible Orchid Tubers

The powders of a traditional food (Nyam ngub) and two wild varieties of orchid tubers (Ateehteu and Lamsie) were studied for the chemical composition (proximate and mineral composition) and functional properties (water, oil, ethanol absorption capacities, solubility index and swelling power). The tubers were collected from Kedjom Ketingoh (5o 58'N and 10o 19E) in the Northwest Region of Cameroon from July to September 2017. The Nyam ngub was prepared following the traditional method used by local processors in the field. Nyam ngub and tubers were separately sliced, dried for 96 h at 45 °C, ground and sieved to obtain powders used for the analysis. For 100g DW, the mean crude protein, starch, total sugars, soluble sugars, total lipid, crude fibre, vitamin C, calcium, iron contents and energy values for Ateehteu, Lamsie and Nyam ngub were (1.93; 3.50; 2.59)mg, (6.51; 4.48; 4.26)g, (14.34; 15.07;13.08)g, (1.07; 1.06; 1.05)g, (2.45; 2.93; 2.41)g, (4.02; 5.22; 4.88)g, (8.38; 5.69; 5.93)mg, (58.02; 181.86; 693.03)mg, (2.78; 24.65; 16.02)mg and (60.58; 63.09; 53.73) Kcal. The mean water, oil and ethanol absorption capacities for Ateehteu and Lamsie were (7.29; 9.10) g/g, (2.60; 3.21) g/g and (1.91; 2.28) g/g and solubility index was (44.38; 59.63) %. The results showed that Nyam ngub could therefore represent a rich traditional food that can provide nutrient diversity in diets, served as food for diabetics and had a promising potential as nutraceuticals and functional foods.