PRELIMINARY BIOCHEMICAL QUANTIFICATION OF, ANTI-NUTRITIONAL, GOITROGENIC AND NUTRACEUTICAL METABOLITES IN AFRICAN "ORPHAN" CEREALS

A number of orphan- (understudied) cereals are staple food largely consumed in many african developing countries. These crops are often indigenous ancient species that in general are well adapted to the extreme soil and climatic conditions prevalent in many African countries. However, orphan crops have been poorly studied under nutritional and nutraceutical aspects and, due to lack of genetic improvement, produce inferior yields compared to the major cereals. In this work we focused our attention on 6 african cereals: Pennisetum glaucum (pearl millet), Eleucine coracana (finger millet), Oryza glaberrima (African rice), Digitaria exilis (fonio), three ssp. of Sorghum ssp. and three ssp. of Eragrostis teff. Seeds of the above plants were collected from a number of sources: ICRISAT, Niger (P. glaucum); dr. Njido Kane, IRSA, Senegal (O. glaberrima); dr. Moussa Daouda Sanogo, Institut d'Economie Rurale, Mali (D. exilis); local producers in Eritrea (Sorghum, teff and finger millet). The flour prepared from seeds of each sample was analysed as to nutritional, anti-nutritional and nutraceutical properties, ascribable to the presence and amount of phytic acid, anthocyanins, poliphenols and condensed tannins, as well as to the total antioxidant activity. Moreover, we investigated the occurrence of C-glycosyl flavones, goitrogenic molecules interfering with the thyroid metabolism, which are of particular relevance for consumer's health. Results obtained from this preliminary screening carried out, showed relevant differences as regards all the above cited compounds, supplying a base for planning bio-fortification and/or genetic improvement projects.