Ethnobotanical and chemical surveys of an edible wild legume:: Uraria picta (Jacq.) DC.

Uraria picta (Jacq.) DC. belongs to the family Leguminosae: Papilionoidae. It is an annual woody erect herb or under-shrub with edible seeds. In order to evaluate what is known about this species and its seed consumption in Ivory-Coast, an ethnobotanical investigation was carried out in the department of Seguela, in the north of the country. The contents of protein and lipid in seeds were analyzed. The ethnobotanical surveys revealed that people belonging to the Malinke ethnic group no longer eat the seeds of Uraria picta. Furthermore, the local knowledge about the species is decreasing from generation to generation. Nevertheless, chemical analyses show that the species is a good source of some nutrients. The protein characteristics of U. picta seeds were compared with several frequently cultivated legumes and cereals. The correlation coefficient calculated for essential amino acids show that U. picta seeds are very close to cultivated legumes (garden pea, horse bean, kidney bean and Bambara groundnut) and slightly close to cultivated cereals (bread wheat, rice, barley). In order to evaluate the nutritional value of protein, the chemical score was calculated. The value obtained, about 87.0%, indicated a great balance of essential amino acids. This value is higher than the chemical score calculated for some other cultivated crops, except Bambara groundnut. The results obtained were also compared with Indian material. This comparison revealed important differences about some amino acid contents. It appears that some variability's more or less important exist according to the region concerned. The lipids content of the seeds is low (1.6%), but U. picta oil contains an interesting proportion of essential and long chain fatty acids. It is concluded that, according to the potential nutritional value of its seeds, U. picta should be considered as a source of nutrients that may contribute in the diet of rural people.