Rose E. Kanfon^{1, 2,}, Flora J. Chadare^{1, 3}, C. Pascal Agbangnan D.⁴, Paulin Azokpota³

Tamarindus indica L. is a non-timber forest product that offers an exceptional richness in macronutrients and micronutrients. The present work aims to evaluate the nutritional and functional value of dry depetiolated leaves, dry petioles and kernels of seeds roasted between 100°C and 110°C for 15 minutes of Tamarindus indica L. from Benin. The proximal composition of the samples was determined by standard methods and the mineral composition by atomic adsorption spectrometry. The results show that 100 g of leaves of Tamarindus indica L. contain on average ( 94.47 ± 0.31) g dry matter , (5.37 ± 0.09) g ash , (37.49 ± 0.11) g lipid, (14.92 ± 0. 10) g of protein and (50.12 ± 0.01) g of sugars. Roasted almonds showed the highest protein content (22.08 ± 0.10) g. The dry petioles were richer than the leaves and kernels in dry matter (95.33 ± 0.36) g. The most representative mineral of the leaves was phosphorus (701.5 ± 0.21) g and potassium for the almonds (1010.24 ± 2.45) mg per 100g of dry matter. The contents of magnesium, calcium, iron and copper were also high with average values ranging from (22.08 - 157.17) mg, (100.24 - 1346.71) mg, (16.77 - 62.71) mg and (5.43 - 11.54) mg respectively for roasted almonds and dry depetiolated leaves. Manganese was the least important mineral for almonds (5.43 mg) and leaves (7.09 mg) low, respectively below 1 and 0.5. These results show that the organs of Tamarindus indica L. prospected in this study present a rather interesting nutritional profile and reveal their functional character. They could play an important role in human nutrition and food security as food ingredients or incorporated into the formulations of products useful to humans.

Tamarindus indica L., Nutrients, Seeds, Roasted almonds, Leaves