Nutritional and phytochemical assessment of dried seeds from Buchholzia coriacea harvested in Côte d'Ivoire

Buchholzia coriacea is a spontaneous wild edible plant, which is consumed by the peoples of Africa countries. This study aims to contribute to the valorization of Buchholzia coriacea flour in Côte d’Ivoire. The assessment of the physico-chemical, phytochemical and nutritional characteristics of Buchholzia coriacea flour powder showed respectively very low levels of lipids (1.5 ± 0.11%), ash (4.49 ± 0.14%), crude fiber (2,11 ± 0.06) and reducing sugars (8.66 ± 0.10%) while the carbohydrate, total sugars and protein levels obtained were 68.02±0.85%, 15.66 ± 0.22% and 17.1 ± 0.55, respectively. Then the moisture content was low at 9.79 ± 0.42%. In contrast, the results for the flour powder phytochemicals showed polyphenols richness (422.92 ± 1.32%) followed by alkaloids (38.69 ± 0.64%), flavonoids (26.88 ± 0.71%), tannins (26.87 ± 0.51%) and anthocyanins (19.10 ± 0.85%). Steroids were low at 0.33 ± 0.23%. Antioxidants such as vitamin C were 2.38± 0.06 mg/100g DM. Finally, minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus and iron have high levels of 789.7 ± 085 mg/100g DM, 665.1± 0.99 mg/100g MS, and 559.1 ± 0.99 mg/100g DM, respectively. In contrast, potassium with an average of 2.44 ± 0.09 mg/100 g DM was the weakliest represented mineral. In short, Buchholzia coriacea seed had very interesting nutritional and phytochemical characteristics. This diversity could be beneficial to populations in food and in the prevention of oxidative stress related diseases.