WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

Pierre Etche Etche, Irene Ahou Kouadio, Yolande Dogore Digbeu and Edmond Ahipo Due*

ABSTRACT

Various parts of spontaneous plants are consumed in several countries including Côte d'Ivoire. P santalinoides is one of these spontaneous plants whose seeds are consumed mainly in rural areas of Côte d'Ivoire. In order to valorize the seeds of Pterocarpus santalinoides, studies on its physical, biochemical and nutritional characteristics were carried out. The physical characteristics concerned the mass, length, width, thickness and circumference of the fruits and seeds. Thus, the mass determined was 6.06 ± 1.47 g for the fruit and 3.29 g ± 2.52 g for the seed. The length was 3.71 ± 0.63 cm for the fruit and 1.95 ± 0.49 cm for the seed. The width was 3.15 ± 0.29 cm for the fruit and 1.03 ± 0.06 cm for the seed. The thickness value was 2.22 ± 0.31 cm for the fruit and 1.19 ± 0.15 cm for the seed and the recorded circumferences were 9.16 ± 0.89 cm and 4.18 ± 0.31 cm for the fruit and seed respectively. The biochemical and nutritional characteristics were only recorded for the seeds. The results obtained indicated variability among the flours. Thus, the moisture content ranged from 8.49 to 9.27%. The pH ranged from 5.85 to 6.05. The acidity ranged from 0.21 to 0.43%. The crude fiber content varied between 2.06 and 3.17% and the lipid content varied between 1.38 and 1.42%. The protein content of the flours ranged from 11.69 to 14.21%. These contents were lower than those of soya, beans and lentils. In addition, the ash content was between 3.52 and 3.96%. The total carbohydrate data ranged from 71.92 to 74.15%. The starch content was 64.04%, which is within the range of starch content of cereal grains. As for soluble sugars, the total sugar content varied between 7.80 and 8.56% and that of reducing sugars was between 0.37 and 0.88%. The energy value varied between 355.73 and 357.28 Kcal per 100 g of flour. Regarding the amino acid composition, of the four amino acids obtained, arginine (1.47 to 2.85 g/100g protein) and valine (3.68 to 4.60 g/100g protein) are essential amino acids, while cysteine (0.54 to 1.64 g/100g protein) and proline (9.20 to 14.22 g/100g protein) are non-essential amino acids. Concerning the mineral composition, magnesium was the mineral with significant values (103.12 to 105.82 mg/100g) in contrast to copper (0.91 to 1.06 mg/100g). On the other hand, the calcium contents recorded (50.85 ± 0.01 to 59.63 ± 0.01) were lower than that of whole milk. The study of the biochemical and nutritional properties of P santalinoides seeds gave an insight into the possible uses of these seeds.

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