Amino Acid, Fatty Acid, and Mineral Composition of 24 Indigenous Plants of Burkina Faso

The leaves, seeds, flowers, and fruit of many indigenous plants are staples of populations who inhabit the Sahel region of Africa. They serve to supplement the nutrients provided by cereals such as millet and sorghum. However, there is a lack of comprehensive compositional data regarding the nutrient content of these indigenous plants. In this report, we present nutritional data for 24 plant materials collected in Burkina Faso, including their content of amino acids, fatty acids, and minerals. Three plants contained 20 to 37% protein (on a dry weight basis):Vigna sp., Hibiscus esculentus,andParkiia biglobosa.Relative to a WHO protein standard, three plants scored relatively high:Voadzeiia subterranea, Pennisetum americanum,andBixa orellana.Plants which contained large amounts of the essential fatty acids linoleic or α-linolenic acid wereVigna sp., Hibiscus esculentusseeds,Parkiia biglobosaseeds, andVitex donianafruit. Three plants were rich in iron:Adansonia digitata, Bixa orellana,andXylopia sp.The fruit and seeds ofHibiscus esculentuswere an excellent source of zinc. The plant foods with the highest calcium content wereAdansonia digitataleaves,Hibiscus sp.,andBombax costatum.These data show that in terms of both quality and quantity there are numerous spontaneous desert plants that can serve as significant sources of essential amino acids, essential fatty acids and trace minerals for populations living in the western Sahel.