Nutritional Value and Phytochemical Screening of Four Wild Edible Plants Used as Functional Foods in Kabare, South-Kivu (DRC)

Wild food plants are among the oldest food sources for nutrition and traditional medicine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The aim of this study was to compare the nutrient content as well as the results of phytochemical screening of organs from 4 plant species utilized by the local community as functional foods. Five plant samples (three leaf samples and two seed samples) from four species of wild edible plants were analysed. They are: Aframomum laurentii (leaves), Ensete ventricosum (leaves/seeds), Portulaca oleracea (leaves), Myrianthus holstii (seeds). The use frequency by the population, the seasonal availability of the plants and the desire to increase the number of organs were the three selection criteria. Laboratory analyses were carried out in strict compliance with the standards required by the literature, and PAST and SPSS v27 software were used for statistical data analysis. The results show that the leaves are richer in carbohydrates than the seeds, which in turn had high lipid and protein content. The maximum and minimum contents per metabolite were as follows: for carbohydrates: Portulaca oleracea (leaves) (38.9%) and Myrianthus holstii (seed) (17.3), for lipids: Myrianthus holstii (seed) (6.7%) and Portulaca oleracea (leaves) (1.4%) and for proteins: Myrianthus holstii (seed) (29.5%) and Ensete ventricosum (leaves) (15.8%). The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of following key bioactive metabolites (phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids). These results confirm the use of these plants as food and medicinal products by the community. Further studies are essential to confirm our results.