Authors: RABIOU Maman Moustapha, TCHICAMA Mella Mamane, SABO Haoua, MAAZOU Mahaman Sabiou, SADOU Hassimi.
In order to promote taro cultivation in Niger, an analysis of the level of its consumption and chemical composition was carried out. To this end, interviews were conducted with 70 consumers and 20 salespeople in Niamey. The chemical composition of two varieties of raw and cooked taro was determined by standard methods. The results obtained show that taro can be bought well in Niamey with sales of 2 to 3 bags of 100 kg/day/trader. According to the respondents, taro conservation does not require much care. Two varieties of taro that differ in size are mainly marketed. Taro is eaten after boiled, peeled and seasoned with spices. 98.57 % of consumers are unaware of the nutritional intake of taro. Analysis of the chemical composition of two varieties of raw and cooked taro shows that moisture contents vary from 79.33-88.15%, ash contents from 0.8-1.00%, fat contents from 0.74-1.12%, protein contents from 0.67-1.17% and carbohydrate contents from 14.20-23.88%. Cooked taro provides a total energy between 101.03 and 109.43 kcal/100g. With regard to mineral composition, the contents of Ca, K, Mg, Na, Fe and Zn expressed in mg/100g of fresh matter fluctuate from 2.31-2.89; 14.73-17.08; 24.36-25.10; 5.37-5.70; 0.27- 0.30 and 0.24-0.34 respectively. The two varieties of taro studied have fairly similar nutrient contents. Cooking in water resulted in a significant increase (p<0.05) in carbohydrate levels and a decrease in moisture, ash, K and Zn contents.
View/Download pdf