Nutritive Profile and Provitamin A Value of Sweet Potatoes Flours (Ipomoea batatas Lam) Consumed in Côte d’Ivoire

Sweet potato is an important food security crop in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Côte d’Ivoire, the roots are widely consumed as supplementary staple food or secondary food. The present study is conducted to highlight the nutritive composition, antinutrients and β-carotene contents of local sweet potatoes consumed in Côte d’Ivoire. The nutritive properties and antinutritive factors of these sweet potatoes were investigated using standard methods. Results confirmed the energetic value (363±1.63-374.08±0.56 kcal/100 g DM) of whole sweet potato flour, mainly due to its high carbohydrate content (86.75±0.40%-90.87±0.12%). Whole flour recorded low contents of moisture (4.50±0.10-6.30±0.15%), lipids (0.63±0.08-1.94±0.95%) and proteins (0.94±0.36-1.91±0.15%). The antinutritive factors ranged from 55.84±0.13 to 70.52±0.07 mg/100 g DM and 52.30±5.81-92.44±11.10 mg/100 g DM for oxalates and phytates, respectively. The mineral contents were: magnesium (49.37±1.09-540.87±0.82 mg/100 g DM), calcium (50.28±1.14-110.53±0.79 mg/100 g DM), phosphorus (25.12±1.04-42.75±0.82 mg/100 g DM), potassium (906.25±0.33-1625±0.61 mg/100 g DM), and iron (5.62±0.84-26.89±0.76 mg/100 g DM). The sweet potato flours highlighted polyphenols and antioxidant activity varying from 92.80±98.20±1.72 to 224.46±0.86 mg GAE /100 g DM, and 31.03±0.52-58.63±0.60%, respectively. While β-carotene levels of flours varied from 0.19±0.08 to 22.71±0.67 µg/g DM for white to orange cultivars. At the whole, the orange fleshed sweet potato cultivars recorded an appreciable amount of minerals (magnesium, iron and calcium), polyphenols and greater antioxidant activity. This indicates that these sweet potato cultivars may present a potential asset for their using as natural antioxidants to prevent chronic diseases and undernourishment caused mineral deficiency. The results also showed that the orange-fleshed varieties may contribute for vitamin A deficiencies alleviation in children of rural areas of Côte d’Ivoire.