Taro is a perennial herbaceous plant whose large leaves are mainly used as vegetables in human food in several tropical countries. However, young taro leaves are not eaten very much in Burkina Faso unlike other countries which have made them a staple diet. In the present work, we collected leaves of taro varieties cultivated in the provinces of Comoe and Kenedougou. Our study aimed to determine the biochemical composition of these leaves in order to detect their nutritional quality. For this purpose, we first determined the total sugars in our different samples; then quantify the proteins and finally assay the lipids contained in the leaves of the different varieties of taro harvested. Analysis of the organic constituents gave the following results: proteins (186.29 to 265.23 μg EQ/100mg fresh leaves), fats (0.28 to 1.90), carbohydrates (183.03 to 238.57 pg EG/100mg fresh leaves). The highest energy value was obtained with the variety BF/CO/06 (1728.71 kcal/kg) and the lowest with BF/CO/04 (272.15 kcal/kg). This study allowed us to conclude that the taro leaves (Colocasia esculenta) studied are of nutritional interest with regard to their biochemical composition.
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