Evaluation of the mineral composition of four species of the Corchorus spp genus consumed as leafy vegetables in Burkina Faso

Species of Corchorus genus are used as leafy vegetables and medicinal plants in Burkina Faso.However, the nutritional value of most of these plants is not well known.In order to lay the foundations for the valorisation of these species, an assay of six essential minerals was carried out on the dry leaves of six genotypes belonging to the species C. aestuans (G 1 and G 2), C. fascicularis (G 3), C. olitorius (G 4 and G 5) and C. tridens (G 6).Minerals assayed were calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc.Results show that the genotype G 2 with a content of 327.70 mg/100 g DW is the richest in calcium.Regarding magnesium content, genotypes G 2 (198.74mg/100 g DW), G 4 (163.208mg/100 g DW), G 5 (129.44 mg/100 g DW) and G 3 (100.28mg/100g DW) had the highest magnesium contents.All genotypes had a copper content below 1 mg each.This content varies from 0.20 mg/100 g DW for genotype G 4 to 0.56 mg/100 g DW for genotype G 3. Each of the six genotypes had a potassium content above 1500 mg/100 g DW.Genotypes G 1 (96.20 mg/100 g DW) and G 6 (71.34 mg/ 100 g DW) were the richest in iron.Genotype G 3 had the highest zinc content of 3.36 mg/100 g DW.Given the high nutritional value the leaves of these plants, they could be potential source for the fight against malnutrition and mineral deficiencies in Burkina Faso.