45 -10.73 %; ash, 4.65 -12.06 %; protein, 12.44 -13.68 %; fat, 4.18 -6.13 %; total dietary fiber, 4.35 -5.26 % and total carbohydrates, 63.10 -73.99

The management of sickle cell disease is a major challenge at the international level. In many African countries, sickle cell anemia is one of the major causes of mortality and is a critical public health problem in Niger. In this part of the continent, the estimated prevalence is around 18 to 22%, which is amongst the highest in Africa. Nowadays, despite the existence of some ways to improve the prognosis of sickle cell anemia as allograft, it turns out that these resources are expensive and out of reach of underdeveloped countries. The purpose of this study was to identify the preliminary anti-sickle cell plants in Niger's traditional pharmacopoeia. To do this, an ethnobotanical survey was conducted among the patients consulting the National Reference Center for Sickle Cell Disease (CNRD) and the traditional healers in the city of Niamey. At the end of this survey, 29 plant species were identified. The phytochemical study of 12 plants showed the presence of large chemical groups known for important biological properties (polyphenols, alkaloids, gallic tannins, sterols and polyterpenes).

A b s t r a c t A r t i c l e I n f oChestnut (Castanea sp.) is an important nut crop of the world whose nut is consumed by a large proportion of population and used for different purposes. The objective in this work was to study the flavoring components in fresh roasted chestnut (FRC), roasted freezedried chestnut (RFDC), dark chocolate-coated chestnut (DCC) and milk chocolate-coated chestnut (MCC). A method based on headspace solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) has been applied for the analysis of volatile components in samples. As a result, 55 volatile organic major compounds were identified in FRC, 44 in RFDC while the processed chestnut with chocolate showed 49 and 43 in MCC and DCC respectively after 180 days storage. Styrene (11.19%), Furfural (10.15%), methyllaurate (9.05%), propanone (6.06%) and butanone (5.08%) were found to be dominant in FRC. However, ethanol, hexanal and butanediol, which were not found in the row material, were identified as important aroma impact compounds in the processed chestnut. These results demonstrate that there is variability in fresh roasted chestnut and the freeze dried one for odorants. The coating process modified strongly the volatile composition of the different types of product, particularly the levels of trans-.beta.-Ionon-5,6-Epoxide, 2-propanone, 2-butanone, acetic acid, furfural, hexanal, ethanol, 2,3-Butanediol and vanillin.