Study of the Nutritional Quality and Therapeutic Virtues of Cassava Leaves Infected by the Mosaic Virus and Healthy in Central African Republic

Research Problem: Cassava leaves play an important role in the diet of the Central African population. Several studies have investigate the composition in nutrients of cassava leaves but only few study focused on the impact of the cassava mosaic virus disease, the main threat of the cassava production in sub-Saharan Africa, on the nutritional value of infected cassava leaves. The objective of this work is to determine the content of nutritional and anti-nutritional compounds in cassava leaves infected by the mosaic virus and healthy leaves. Material and Methods: The study was performed on two cassava varieties that are M66033 (susceptible to be infected by the mosaic virus) and Togo or TMS66 (resistant to the virus) planted in the locality of Bangui, the Capital of the Central African Republic. Cassava leaves were collected 3 months after planting, separated according to the mosaic severity symptoms (0 to 5) and kept at 4°C in a fridge. Biochemical analyses were performed on leaves for the determination of fiber, protein, lipid and carbohydrate contents as well as antioxidant contents. Result: The results showed that, the dietary fiber content is 44% in healthy leaves, it decreases from 42% to 26% in cassava leaves infected with mosaic virus. Protein content was 4% in the infected cassava leaf samples and 3% in the healthy cassava leaves. Lipid content decreases from 7% to 2% in mosaic-infected cassava leaves, it is 5% in healthy leaves. The carbohydrate content is 59% in mosaic-infected leaves and 43% in healthy leaves. The polyphenol content is 30 mgeq GA/ g in cassava leaves with mosaic symptoms and 28 mgeq GA/ g in healthy leaves. Flavonoid content decreases from 6 10-2 mgeq Q/ g to 0.510-2 mgeq Q/ g in cassava leaves with the mosaic symptom. Tannin content decreases from 6 10-2 to 0 mgeq cat/ g in mosaic infected cassava leaves. Tannin content is 210-2 mgeq cat/ g in healthy leaves. The defense mechanism developed by cassava plants infected with mosaic virus has an effect on the synthesis of biochemical compounds, fibers, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, polyphenols, Flavonoids and tannins. These results suggest that cassava leaves infected by mosaic virus are an excellent food for consumer health.