Anon Attoh Hyacinthe^1,, Fagbohoun Jean Bedel², Kouame Maimouna Liliane¹, Coulibaly Beh Moussa², Soro Yadé René³

The fruits of the Sarcocephalus latifolius (African peach) are said to be rich in both nutritional and therapeutic properties, thanks to its high phenolic and mineral content. To be used in food, the fruit is either processed into powder for herbal teas or eaten raw when ripe. However, no scientific study has yet reported on the biochemical composition of the fruit of this species. This study focused on characterising the fruit of the African peach harvested in three towns in northern Côte d'Ivoire. To do this, Morphological, physicochemical and phytochemical parameters were determined using standardised conventional analysis methods. In terms of morphological parameters, the results show that the endocarp, mesocarp and exocarp do not differ significantly and have an overall length of 0.64 cm, 1.27 cm and 0.25 cm respectively. However, the mass, length, width and circumference differed significantly. Indeed, the mass varies from 64.77 ± 2.18 to 79.3 ± 2.96 g, the circumference from 14.25 ± 0.35 to 17.10 ± 0.14 cm, the width from 4.15 ± 0.13 to 5.25 ± 0.07 cm and the length from 4.77 ± 0.38 to 5.45 ± 0.07 cm. In terms of physicochemical parameters, there were significant variations in fibre, total sugars, reducing sugars, ash content and energy value. Thus, fibre content varied from 12.6 ± 0.4 to 13.3 ± 0.6%, total sugars from 68.3 ± 0.04 to 68.77 ± 0.02%, reducing sugars from 4.6 ± 0.06 to 5.16 ± 0.03%, ash from 6.9 ± 0.01 to 7.12 ± 0.03% and energy value from 98.15 ± 1.75 to 114.21 ± 2.06%. With regard to phytochemical parameters, only the flavonoid content differed significantly between towns. However, the content of these compounds was around 1386 mgEQ/100g for total polyphenols, 2.53 mgEQ/100g for tannins and 114.21 ± 2.06 mgEQ/100g for flavonoids. In view of its composition, eating the fruit of the African peach tree can help prevent certain dietary imbalances and deal with certain diseases.

Sarcocephalus latifolius, morphological parameters, physicochemical characterisation, phytochemical parameters