Pentadesma butter (Pentadesma butyracea, sabine, clusiaceae) is an extract of the kernels of tree fruits in West Africa and similar to shea butter. The study of the fatty acid composition, triacylglycerols, sterols and tocopherols of Pentadesma butter was carried out on seeds collected in ten production areas in Benin. The results obtained show that the composition in fatty acids is characterized by the presence of stearic acid and oleic acid, which represent nearly 96% of the total fatty acids. The triacylglycerols profile of the different butters is marked by the overwhelming presence of the triacylglycerols SOS and SOO. The unsaponifiable fraction shows, for the sterolic composition, a predominance of stigmasterol (nearly 68% of the total sterols) whilst the b-tocopherol is the main tocopherol.

Effet des pr etraitements post-r ecolte des amandes de Pentadesma butyracea (Sabine) sur la technologie d'extraction en milieu r eel et la qualit e du beurre.

Among the two most widely distributed duiker species, Philantomba monticola (Thunberg, 1789) and Philantomba maxwelli (C. H. Smith, 1827), the latter shows geographic variation in pelage color and body size. This issue was not investigated in detail so far, especially in the eastern region of its distribution area, notably due to the lack of material from the Dahomey Gap. We undertook a species-level revision of Philantomba in West Africa, notably including a series of specimens collected in Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Using morphological measurements (craniometry) and genetic data (two mitochondrial and three nuclear markers), we describe a new duiker species occurring in the Dahomey Gap (Togo, Benin) and the Niger delta, Philantomba walteri sp. nov. This discovery highlights the importance of the Dahomey Gap for the evolutionary history of the West African forest faunas. It also has conservation implications given that the new species is one of the main targets of the local bushmeat trade.

Background Atacora Chain of Mountains (ACM) is the Benin part of a range of mountains lying from Benin to Ghana through Togo. It provides goods and services to people and is dominated by rural communities with heavy reliance on natural resources. The ACM may be threatened by the increasing resource needs and the possible shift in people’s livelihood priorities brought about by challenges and opportunities ushered in by modernization. This study sought to understand local people’s perception of the services derived from the ACM and the socio-demographic factors (age, gender, and level of urbanization of the place people live in) accounting for these perceptions. Methods Face to face interviews with 12 focus groups in 3 municipalities were carried out to obtain a list of ecosystem services cited by the participants. At the individual level, 144 people (men, women, young, adult, and old people from either rural or urbanized areas) equally distributed in the 3 municipalities were asked whether they acknowledge each of the services cited by the focus groups. Logistic regressions were then used with generalized linear models (GLM) function in R to analyze the relationships between the probability of acknowledgement of a service by the respondents and their socio-demographic characteristics. Results Local people perceived the ACM as a provider of provisioning, supporting, and cultural services but cited more provisioning services than the others. The factors considered in this study (gender, location, and age) were all predictors of ecosystem services perception in the ACM. Location influenced people’s perception of provisioning and supporting services such that respondents from rural municipalities were more likely to perceive provisioning and supporting services. This is because people in rural areas have a heavier reliance on natural resources. Gender was associated with respondents’ perception of supporting, provisioning, and cultural services. Women were more likely to perceive provisioning services and less likely supporting and cultural services. People in each category of gender have a perception of ES linked to their livelihood activities. Young people were less likely to perceive supporting services than adults and old people due to their less involvement in farming activities. Conclusions This study showed that gender, location, and age predict local people’s perception of ecosystem services in the ACM and livelihood orientation is determinant. The omission of regulation and many of the supporting services questions the future of this mountain chain if its exploitation continues without any awareness and conservation measures.

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