Nutritional Composition of Four Underexploited Wild Fruits in Mali

Abstract

Malnutrition and food insecurity are major concerns for the Malian authorities. The objective of this study was to strengthen the knowledge about the nutritional and physicochemical values of four underutilized edible wild fruits picked at two cities belonging to different bioclimatic zones of Mali. The physicochemical and nutritional parameters were performed using standard methods. The findings revealed that all these parameters varied from one fruit to another, this outcome could be associated with the provenances of the wild fruits (p-value < 0.05). The protein contents varied from 4.53 g/100g by dry matter (DM) for R . sudanica fruits to 5.34 g/100g DM for those of B . aegyptiaca , all these samples were being harvested from Sikasso. The highest concentrations of vitamins are C (150,800 to 151,000 μg/100g DM), E (1 , 310 to 1 , 350 μg/100g DM) and A (38 to 40 μg/100g DM) respectively for the fruits of Z . mauritiana , B . aegyptiaca and S . senegalensis . In addition, these fruits would constitute a potential source of minerals such as iron, phosphorus and calcium. Thereby, these fruits are promising raw materials to be used against the malnutrition linked to the micronutrients deficiencies and the management of certain pathologies related to oxidative stress.