Nutritional characteristics of flour from Dioscorea comorensistubers collected in the Comoros

Nutritional characteristics of flour from Dioscorea comorensistubers collected in the Comoros | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Nutritional characteristics of flour from Dioscorea comorensis tubers collected in the Comoros Soule Mounir¹ ², Ibouroi Mohamed Thani, Razafimahefa This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9107625/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Dioscorea comorensis is a wild plant with edible tubers endemic to the Comoros. This species plays a significant ecological role in local forest ecosystems. As a native yam species, it contributes to biodiversity conservation and provides an important traditional food resource for Comoros rural communities, especially during periods of food scarcity. Its nutritional potential remains largely underexplored despite its longstanding contribution to local diets. This study aims to determine the nutritional characteristics of the flour produced from its tubers. The Dioscorea tubers were harvested in Ouellah and then processed into flour using various methods. Biochemical analyses were performed on the resulting flour to determine its water content and dry matter content, macronutrient composition, crude ash content, mineral profile, energy value, and certain nutritional indices, such as the PRAL index and the calcium/phosphorus (Ca/P) and sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratios. The flour has low moisture content (7.13%) and high dry matter content (92.87%). It contains 6.37% protein, 0.45% lipids, 83.37% carbohydrates, and 7.13% crude ash. Its metabolizable energy is 357.46 kcal/100 g. Essential minerals of collected induvials were in significant amounts: potassium (780.41 mg/100 g), sodium (599.41 mg/100 g), phosphorus (444.17 mg/100 g), calcium (422.70 mg/100 g), copper (332.20 mg/100 g), magnesium (287.71 mg/100 g), iron (252.32 mg/100 g), zinc (223.11 mg/100 g), and manganese (220.73 mg/100 g). Its PRAL index is negative (-9.80 mEq/100 g) and it’s Ca/P (0.95) and Na/K (0.77) ratios are less than 1. These findings show that D. comorensis flour is an interesting source of energy and minerals profile, with appreciable protein content. It has an alkalizing effect and a mineral profile that is beneficial to the body.ts ecological importance, coupled with its high nutritional value, highlights its potential contribution to improving food and nutritional security in the Comoros Dioscorea comorensis root and tuber plants yam endemic nutritional characteristics Comoros Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9107625","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":605256471,"identity":"3da7bce2-4112-47df-8ba2-5537b1cd36e9","order_by":0,"name":"Soule Mounir¹ 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\u003cem\u003eDioscorea comorensis\u003c/em\u003e is a wild plant with edible tubers endemic to the Comoros. This species plays a significant ecological role in local forest ecosystems. As a native yam species, it contributes to biodiversity conservation and provides an important traditional food resource for Comoros rural communities, especially during periods of food scarcity. Its nutritional potential remains largely underexplored despite its longstanding contribution to local diets. This study aims to determine the nutritional characteristics of the flour produced from its tubers. The Dioscorea tubers were harvested in Ouellah and then processed into flour using various methods. Biochemical analyses were performed on the resulting flour to determine its water content and dry matter content, macronutrient composition, crude ash content, mineral profile, energy value, and certain nutritional indices, such as the PRAL index and the calcium/phosphorus (Ca/P) and sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratios. The flour has low moisture content (7.13%) and high dry matter content (92.87%). It contains 6.37% protein, 0.45% lipids, 83.37% carbohydrates, and 7.13% crude ash. Its metabolizable energy is 357.46 kcal/100 g. Essential minerals of collected induvials were in significant amounts: potassium (780.41 mg/100 g), sodium (599.41 mg/100 g), phosphorus (444.17 mg/100 g), calcium (422.70 mg/100 g), copper (332.20 mg/100 g), magnesium (287.71 mg/100 g), iron (252.32 mg/100 g), zinc (223.11 mg/100 g), and manganese (220.73 mg/100 g). Its PRAL index is negative (-9.80 mEq/100 g) and it\u0026rsquo;s Ca/P (0.95) and Na/K (0.77) ratios are less than 1. These findings show that \u003cem\u003eD. comorensis\u003c/em\u003e flour is an interesting source of energy and minerals profile, with appreciable protein content. 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