Sweet potato is an important food security crop in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Côte d’Ivoire, the roots are widely consumed as supplementary staple food or secondary food. The present study is conducted to highlight the nutritive composition, antinutrients and β-carotene contents of local sweet potatoes consumed in Côte d’Ivoire. The nutritive properties and antinutritive factors of these sweet potatoes were investigated using standard methods. Results confirmed the energetic value (363±1.63-374.08±0.56 kcal/100 g DM) of whole sweet potato flour, mainly due to its high carbohydrate content (86.75±0.40%-90.87±0.12%). Whole flour recorded low contents of moisture (4.50±0.10-6.30±0.15%), lipids (0.63±0.08-1.94±0.95%) and proteins (0.94±0.36-1.91±0.15%). The antinutritive factors ranged from 55.84±0.13 to 70.52±0.07 mg/100 g DM and 52.30±5.81-92.44±11.10 mg/100 g DM for oxalates and phytates, respectively. The mineral contents were: magnesium (49.37±1.09-540.87±0.82 mg/100 g DM), calcium (50.28±1.14-110.53±0.79 mg/100 g DM), phosphorus (25.12±1.04-42.75±0.82 mg/100 g DM), potassium (906.25±0.33-1625±0.61 mg/100 g DM), and iron (5.62±0.84-26.89±0.76 mg/100 g DM). The sweet potato flours highlighted polyphenols and antioxidant activity varying from 92.80±98.20±1.72 to 224.46±0.86 mg GAE /100 g DM, and 31.03±0.52-58.63±0.60%, respectively. While β-carotene levels of flours varied from 0.19±0.08 to 22.71±0.67 µg/g DM for white to orange cultivars. At the whole, the orange fleshed sweet potato cultivars recorded an appreciable amount of minerals (magnesium, iron and calcium), polyphenols and greater antioxidant activity. This indicates that these sweet potato cultivars may present a potential asset for their using as natural antioxidants to prevent chronic diseases and undernourishment caused mineral deficiency. The results also showed that the orange-fleshed varieties may contribute for vitamin A deficiencies alleviation in children of rural areas of Côte d’Ivoire.

Industrials interest in fats as raw material, resides in their exceptional quality and potentialities of exploitation in several fields. This study aimed to exalt the optimized shea butter quality and present its wide potentialities of utilization. Hence, the characteristics of beige and yellow optimized shea butters were determined. Both samples recorded very weak acid (0.280 ± 0.001 and 0.140 ± 0.001 mgKOH/g) and peroxide (0.960 ± 0.001 and 1.010 ± 0.001 mEgO2/kg) indexes, when the iodine indexes (52.64 ± 0.20 and 53.06 ± 0.20 gI2/100 g) and the unsaponifiable matters (17.61 ± 0.01 and 17.27 ± 0.01 %) were considerable. The refractive indexes (1.454 ± 0.00 and 1.453 ± 0.00) and the pH (6.50 ± 0.30 and 6.78 ± 0.30) were statistically similar; but the specific gravity (0.915 ± 0.01–0.79 ± 0.01 and 0.94 ± 0.01–0.83 ± 0.01) and the viscosity (90.41 ± 0.20–20.02 ± 0.20 and 125.37 ± 0.20–23.55 ± 0.20 MPas) differed and decreased exponentially with the temperature increasing (35–65 °C), except for the specific gravity of the yellow butter which decreased linearly. The UV–Vis spectrum showed a high peak at 300 nm and a rapid decrease from 300 to 500 nm when the near infra-red one, revealed peaks at 450, 1200, 1400, 1725 and 2150 nm for all the samples. The chromatographic profile identified palmitic (16.42 and 26.36 %), stearic (32.39 and 36.36 %), oleic (38.12 and 29.09 %), linoleic (9.72 and 5.92 %) and arachidic (1.84 and 1.59 %) acids, and also exaltolide compound (1.51 and 0.68 %). The samples also contained essential minerals (Calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, etc.) carotene (550 ± 50 and 544 ± 50 ppm), vitamins A (0.065 ± 0.001 and 0.032 ± 0.001 µg/g) and E (2992.09 ± 1.90 and 3788.44 ± 1.90 ppm) in relatively important amounts; neither microbiological germs nor heavy were detected. All these valorizing characteristics would confer to the optimized shea butters good aptitude for exportation and exploitation in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

<p>Many standards constitute shea butter trading conditions, but the exploitation of this greasy product is submitted to other industrial exigencies. The aim of this study was to characterize and evaluate the utilization potentiality of the artisanal shea butter produced in Côte d’Ivoire, on the basis of the industrials exigencies. Hence, both beige and yellow artisanal (original and market) shea butters were collected and analyzed. The refractive indexes (1.46 ± 0.00) did not vary while specific gravity at 40 °C (0.86 ± 0.00 - 0.92 ± 0.00), unsaponifiable matter (1.80 ± 0.01 - 3.76 ± 0.02%) and pH values (5.39 - 6.69) showed significant differences from a sample to another. The viscosity was very high at 40 °C (86.78 ± 0.89 - 130.10 ± 0.26 mPas) and decreased with the temperature increasing (40 to 65 °C). The UV-Vis spectrum showed a very weak absorption from 300 to 400 nm (UV-B and UV-A domains) while the near infra-red (NIR) one, revealed peaks at 450 and 700 nm for yellow shea butters only and peaks at 1200, 1400, 1725 and 2150 nm for all the samples. The fatty acids profile highlighted four main fatty acids (palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acids); saturated fatty acids (56.00 ± 0.20 - 63.00 ± 0.20%) were the most important. All these interesting characteristics should arouse attention for using traditional shea butters in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.</p>

The aim of this work was to identify acetic acid bacteria expressing technological characteristics for further use in vinegar production in tropical countries. It was focused on isolation and identification of thermotolerant acetic acid bacteria strains from Elaeis guineensis wine of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivorian palm wine). A screening was performed to find out strains with high vinegar production, tolerant against high ethanol, acid and sugar concentrations as well as tolerating high production temperatures. Among 104 isolated strains, 5 were selected for their growth ability, acetification capacity (acetic acid production higher than 30 g/l) and suroxydation at 37°C. Tolerance against 6% acetic acid and 9% ethanol was observed. Osmotolerance study showed tolerance against 5% and 10% glucose giving 100% and 50% relative growth, respectively. Resistance against desiccation showed survival rate of 50% at 37°C after 5 h treatment and 10% after 20 h treatment. The best aeration rate in flasks for acetification was 70%. Polyphasic identification study based on biochemical, physiological and molecular characterization showed that the 5 isolates were all Acetobacter pasteurianus. Owing to their potentialities, these strains may be used as starters in vinegar production after conducting preservation studies.