Nutrient content of the edible leaves of seven wild plants from Niger

Wild plants play an important role in the diet of the inhabitants of Niger. These plants tend to be drought-resistant and are gathered both in times o f plenty as well as times of need. Used in everyday cooking, famine foods m ay be an important source of nutrients. The goal of this study was to inves tigate the nutritional role of wild plants in the nigerien diet. To this en d, leaves of seven plants species were analyzed for their mineral, amino ac id and fatty acid contents: Ximenia americana, Amaranthus viridus, Corchoru s tridens, Hibiscus sabdarifa, Maerua crassifolia, Moringa oleifera, and Le ptadenia hastata. Ximenia americana} contained large amounts of calcium. La rge quantities of iron were present in Amaranthus viridus. All seven plants contained significant amounts of selenium and phosphorus. Corchorus triden s contained the most protein (19-25% dry weight), and its composition compa red favorably to the World Health Organization's standard for essential ami no acids. Moringa oleifera contained 17% protein and compared favorably wit h the WHO standard. Corchorus tridens contained the largest amounts of the two essential fatty acids linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids. These results reinforce the growing awareness that wild edible plants of the Western Sah el can contribute useful amounts of essential nutrients, including amino ac ids, fatty acids and trace minerals, to human diets.