Leafy vegetables are an important source of essential components of rural people diet in tropical Africa. This study aimed to characterize the free amino acids of five leafy vegetables consumed in Western Côte d 'Ivoire. The leaves of Abelmoschus esculentus, Celosia argentea, Ipomea batatas, Manihot esculenta, and Myrianthus arboreus were collected at maturity from cultivated farmlands located at Dabou (Abidjan District). These five leaves were washed and oven-dried at 60 °C for 3 days. The dried leaves were then ground and the powdered samples of each leaf were analysis for its amino acid contents using HPLC. The results showed that the amino acid contents of each leaf vegetable were significantly different (p ˂ 0.05). The proline which is a non-essential amino acid was found in all the leaves with contents varying from 563.6 ± 1.08 to 1562.9 ± 1.88 mg/100 g. For essential amino acids, leucine contents of the leaves ranged from 175.9 ± 0.56 to 9685.9 ± 5.14 mg/100 g. Among the five leafy vegetable, lysine was quantified in leaves of C. argentea (266.7 ± 0.89 mg/100 g), I. batatas (7225.9 ± 2.56 mg/100 g) and M. arboreus (182.4 ± 0.66 mg/100 g). Tryptophan could not be detected in C. argentea, M. esculenta and M. arboreus. M. esculenta recorded the highest content of valine (1639.1 ± 1.39 mg / 100 g) compared to C. argentea (1069.4 ± 1.2 mg / 100g). Methionine is the only sulfur amino acid detected in C. argentea (165.1 ± 0.61 mg / 100g). These results show that leafy vegetables consumed in Western Côte d'Ivoire are an important source of amino acids. Therefore, they can contribute to improving the nutritional quality of food and ensure food security.

Some wild edible mushrooms of genus Russula are consumed in the center region of Côte d'Ivoire. In this study, the proximate composition, mineral element and amino acid profile of three selected wild edible Russula species from Center of Côte d'Ivoire including Russula delica, Russula lepida and Russula mustelina were investigated. The mushrooms were harvested fresh, dried in an oven at 45°C for 48 hours, ground and analyzed according to standard procedures. Proximate analysis showed high level of proteins (38.08±0.29-38.52±0.23 %), crude fibre (9.59±0.21-19.78±0.7 %), carbohydrate (39.29±1.71-41.64±1.41 %), ash (12.7±0.16-13.80±0.10 %) and fat (4.06±0.11-5.70±0.05 %) in all species. Mineral analysis of all species indicated that the mushrooms were specifically rich in potassium, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium. R. delica contained the highest level of calcium and phosphorus. The mushrooms contained 18 amino acids among with the most predominant ones in all species were glutamic acid and valine. In addition, the ratios of essential amino acids to total amino acids were between 0.40 and 0.45. The high scores of essential amino acids present in these mushrooms implied that they have a high biological protein value. These mushrooms could be considered as a potential health food and may be of use to the food industry as a source of ingredients with high nutritional value.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of boiling time on functional properties of flour from the wild yam Dioscorea praehensilis tuber. For this purpose, six (6) flours were produced with different boiling times of the wild yam tubers: 5 min (YT 5 ), 10 min (YT 10 ), 20 min (YT 20 ) , 30 min (YT 30 ) and 40 minutes (YT 40 ); the raw tuber flour (YT 0 ) was used as reference control. Slower wettability registered for raw flour (116.33s) significantly (p<0.05) change with boiling as wettability of boiled tubers flours ranged from 25.32 s (YT 5 ) to 33.5 s (YT 40 ). The densities paste clarity and Water Absorption capacity significantly (p<0.05) increased with the boiling. But there were significantly (p<0.05) decrease in water solubility index (WSI) (from 19.45 % to 16.45 %), dispersibility (from 82.03 % to 74.2) and foam capacity (from 86.02 to 11.79 %). The foam stability increased from raw to the boiled tuber. Parameter like least gelation concentration (LGC) remained constant (at 6 g/ml) from raw to boiled tubers and increased to 8 g/ml only at the longer boiling time (30 min and 40 min). The highest emulsion capacity was registered at 20 min while the highest), water absorption capacity (WAC) was registered at 10 min. The swelling power and solubility increased significantly Original Research Article

In tropical Africa, leafy vegetables are traditionally cooked and eaten as a relish together with a starchy staple food. To contribute to their wider utilization and valorization in food sector, five leafy vegetables consumed in Western Côte d’Ivoire were investigated for their amino acids composition. The leaves of Abelmoschus esculentus, Celosia argentea, Ipomea batatas, Manihot esculenta and Myrianthus arboreus were the five leafy vegetables studied. The samples of these five leafy vegetables in this study were collected at maturity in cultivated farmlands located at Dabou (Southern Côte d’Ivoire). Then, they were washed and oven dried at 60 °C during three days before ground. The amino acid content of the ground samples were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technical. The results were showed a significantly different (p ˂ 0.05) between amino acids contents of the five leafy vegetables. For a non-essential amino acids, all the five leaves studied were contained only proline with concentrations varying from 563.6 ± 1.08 to 1562.9 ± 1.88 mg/100 g. The two(2) other non-essential amino acids, arginine and tyrosine were detected only in leaves of C. argentea (1370.6 mg/100mg) and A. esculentus (1.70 mg/100mg) respectively. Concerning essential amino acids, only leucine was contained in all leafy vegetables with contents between 175.9 ± 0.56 and 9685.9 ± 5.14 mg/100 g. For the other essential amino acids, lysine was contained in leaves of C. argentea, I. batatas and M. arboreus with respectives concentrations of 266.7 ± 0.89 mg/100 g, 7225.9 ± 2.56 mg/100 g and 182.4 ± 0.66 mg/100 g. Tryptophane was quantified in leaves of A. esculentus and I. batatas with respectives levels of 1205.4 ± 1.86 mg/100g and 175.4 ± 0.84 mg/100g. Valine was detected in leaves of C. argentea and M. esculenta with respectives contents of 1069.4 ± 1.21 mg/100g and 1639.1 ± 1.39 mg/100g. Methionine was contained in leaf of C. argentea with level of 165.1 ± 0.61 mg/100g. The important concentration of amino acids revealed in leaves studied clearly would justify their consumption by Western Côte d’Ivoire populations. Therefore, exploitation of leafy vegetables could contribute food security of ivorian population.