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Quantitative Determination of Biochemical Constituents of the Wild Food Plant Talinum triangulare (Jacqu) Wild (Big Purslane)

Department of Geostrategy, Geography and Environment, Center of Research of Human Sciences, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, National Pedagogical University, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. 3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. 4 Department of Phytotechnics, Faculty of Agronomy, National Pedagogical University, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. 5 Department of Basic sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Gbado-Lite, Gbado-Lite, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Centre d’Etudes des Substances Naturelles d’Origine Végétale (CESNOV), Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

The T. triangulare species, which is known as "cariru" in Brazil, is a non-conventional vegetable crop of the Talinaceae family, is mainly consumed in Northern Brazil, where the soft and highly nutritious leaves are used as a substitute for spinach. It is well adapted to the hot and humid climate and the poor quality soil, which makes its cultivation an important economic activity for small growers. This species is used in traditional medicine as a tonic and enhance the cognitive ability; however, few studies have investigated its biochemical composition [9,10].
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the major biodiversity hotspot in the world.
Wild edible plants (WEPs) are widely consumed as part of daily diet by the local people and are part of their traditional culture and food habit. WEPs are critical for the sustenance of ethnic communities and also as a source of income. However, WEPs received little attention in research activities, economic development, biodiversity conservation and sustainable management [11].
Majority of the non-conventional food plants are neglected which grow naturally in the wild and need no input, maintenance or care [12]. Nonconventional food plants have always played a pivotal role as supplement to major food plants in the food security system since time immemorial. In almost all countries of the world which are rich in floral biodiversity and have abundance of vegetation, there are established practices of using Non-conventional food plants as stand-by source of food at times of famine, natural calamity and at times when major crops fail due to local climatic aberrations etc. For example, in Assam (India) where flood is common during the rainy season; since time immemorial people have been using tender shoot of banana, corms of Colocasia, tender fronds of Fern as staple and scarcity food to survive during unfavourable time.
Non-conventional food plants are defined as those wild and semi-wild species that grow naturally in forest, forest margins, community land, degraded and discarded lands etc; but invariably come from sources other than organized cultivation [13]. Such plants are routinely used as supplement to major food and are part of traditional knowledge and culture of various ethnic groups elsewhere and particularly North East India [14].
Non-conventional food plants are therefore substitute to major food plants at times of scarcity and supplement to major food crops at normal times and thus they have become part of ethnic culture. Since the dawn of civilization man has identified nearly 80,000 plants to be edible out of which only about 130 are put to major use [15].
Rural areas and tribal societies are the bastions of non-conventional food plants. Growing urbanization, influence and invasion of urban culture in rural areas and also tribal societies are causing fast erosion of ethnic culture and along with it knowledge and germplasm of nonconventional food plants. However, mere enumeration of such plants is not enough. A thorough assessment of their nutritive values is of paramount importance to find out how to make best use of them. The present work deals with the biochemichal analysis of the nutritive values of non-conventional food plant Talinum triangulare with pink and white flowers.

Materials
The plant material for the present study is Talinum triangulare (Jacq.)Wild (Talinaceae). T. triangulare is occasionally grown as ornamental herb in courtyard and also occurs as weed in garden.
The biological material collected by us in the Commune of Ngaliema (Binza) in Kinshasa consists of samples of leaves, stems, roots and seeds for pink flowers Talinum triangulare harvested during the dry season and the whole plant for white flowers Talinum triangulare harvested during the rainy season.

Biochemical analyses
Freshly collected seeds, barks, roots leaves samples were first washed with tap water and then distilled water and dried water in the open air, away from the sun till constant weight was recorded. From this moisture, percentage was evaluated and chemical analysis was on dry weight basis. Crude protein was estimated by Kjeldahl method as described by Mbemba, and estimated by extracting the sample with petroleum ether in soxhlet apparatus for over eight hours after which the solvent was evaporated away. From the difference in weight [16]. Total lipid was of the flask total lipid was calculated [17]. Crude fibre was estimated as per the method outlined by Kurschner's [17] and [18]. For ash content, the sample was ashed in a muffle furnace at 600°C for four hours and the difference in weight was recorded from which ash content was calculated [19].
Calorific values were computed as per the formula of Sherman [20]. Carbohydrates, lipids and proteins are the main sources of energy. One gram of protein, lipid and carbohydrate produces 4.1; 9 and 4.1 Kcal respectively.
The method consists of multiplying the contents of different nutrients by the Atwater coefficient (4 for protein, 9 for lipid and 4 for carbohydrate) as follow: Calorific values = (% Protein x 4.1) + (% Fat x 9) + (% Carbohydrates x 4.1). Three replications were made for each sample and standard error of means was worked out. The data were subjected to one way analysis of variance.
Reducing sugars have been estimated following this protocol. Boil 15 ml of the prepared sugar solution for 5 minutes in a beaker and add 5 ml of Fehling's liqueur A and B of each solution. A brick-red precipitate (Cu 2 O) is formed. The precipitate is then recovered by filtration; the filter paper washed with hot water is placed in the oven for about 2 hours at 150°C; cooling is done in the desiccator and the filter paper is then weighed [21].
Based on the weight of cuprous oxide obtained, the MEISSL-ALLIHM table is used to determine the weight of glucose, invert sugar and hydrated lactose corresponding to various weights of cuprous oxide. By interpolation, the weight of sugar per 100 g of fresh material is obtained.

Thin layer chromatography
For TLC, we used aluminum plates (10x20 cm) covered with silica gel GF 254 Merck (1:10) with 0.5 mm thickness of stationary phase. The plates were dipped in diethyl ether and air dried, then activated in an oven at 110ºC for 30 minutes (adsorption chromatography) and stored in the desiccator. The eluents used for the separation of the essential oils were toluene=ethyl acetate in proportion (v=v) 1:9.

Biochemical analysis
 Moisture content and quantity of dry matter The parameters analyzed (moisture and dry matter) vary according to the explant analyzed ( Fig. 2 and Fig.3).
Moisture content varies in the opposite direction to the amount of dry matter, except for the roots. The variation of these two parameters is highly significant at P>5% (R² = 0.987).
Moisture content varies in the opposite direction to the amount of dry matter, except for the roots. The variation of these two parameters is highly significant at P>5% (R² = 0.987). The ash content varies according to the explants analyzed, whose average (16.08% + 2.45) is not significantly different according to the nature of the samples but they are different with the other parts of the plant (R² = 0.98) (Fig. 4).
The average ash content of the pink leafed variety is high compared to the white leafed variety. This variation is highly significant between the two varieties (R² = 1). It evolves in the opposite direction to the moisture content because it is consistent with the moisture content (Fig. 5).
 Crude fiber content of Talinum triangular explants The crude fibre content of the explants analyzed, with the lowest average (1.92% + 0.065) in the root. The other values are close.
The average crude fiber content of the pink leaf variety is high compared to the white leaf variety.
This variation is highly significant between the two varieties (R² = 1).

 Total Lipid Content
Fat levels, with an average of (0.321% + 0.07) are similar in the stem, leaf and root; this content is slightly lower in the seeds. The variation between the different explants is significant.
The average fat content of the pink leafed variety is high compared to the white leafed variety. This variation is highly significant between the two varieties (R² = 1).

 Total protein content
The total protein content ranges from a low 1.13% for the root to 2.4% for the leaf, with an average value of 1.68% + 0.22 (Fig. 10). This leaf protein content, although low, could empirically justify the consumption of leaves by the population. The variation of this parameter shows a highly significant difference between the different explants (R² = 0.9607).

. Average crude fiber content (%) of whole pink and white-flowered plants
The average total protein content of the pink leaf variety is high compared to the white leaf variety. This variation is highly significant between the two varieties (R² = 1).

 Reducing sugar content
Reducing sugar contents range from a low of 0.07% for the root to 3.58% for the stem, with an average value of 2.356% + 0.34 (Fig. 12). The variation of this parameter shows a highly significant difference between the different explants (R² = 0.82).
The average content of reducing sugars (%) of the whole plant with pink leaves is high compared to that with white leaves. This variation is highly significant between the two varieties (R² = 1).

 Overview table
The results of this study indicate that this plant species can be used to combat malnutrition.

 The energy value of two varieties
The energy value of these plants shows the variety Talinum triangulare with pink leaf has a much higher caloric intake than the T. triangulare with pink leaf. This difference is supported by mathematical regression which shows a highly significant difference between the two (Fig. 15). 16   Nd= not determined

Chromatographic profile
The chromatographic profile (Table 1) reveals the presence in the leaf and in the root of fatty acids of larger size than the control fatty acids: their migration in the chromatogram is low as revealed by their Rf.

DISCUSSION
It appears from this study that the leaves of Talinum triangulare have a moisture content of 93%, which is slightly higher than the values given successively (90.8%) for Talinum triangulare (Jacq.) Wild in the food composition table [3], and (92%) [22]. However, this result is lower (94.4%) than that found [23] and higher than that found in certain vegetables consumed in Kinshasa city such as: Amaranthus gracilis and Psophocarpus scandens (82.7%) [16], Phytolacca dodencadra (86.72%) and Pteridium acquilinum (91.52%) [24]. The average value (69.55%) is essentially attributed to the low value observed in the root (16.4%), the samples having been collected in the dry season and a high average (78%) for those collected during the rainy season. Indeed, the plant is relatively drought tolerant, but when exposed to drought, it adopts a crassulaceous acid metabolism (Cam), which results in efficient use of available moisture, particularly that of the tuberous root [25].
The moisture content of the leaves is slightly higher than that found in the stems (92%) in, that

Variety analyzed
found in the seeds (76.7%) and far higher than that found in the roots (16.4%).
The mineral matter or ash content of T. triangulare leaves is 18.7%. This rate is higher than that found by Ilunga [26] in pumpkin leaves (16%). The food composition table [27] gives 2.0%, which is corroborated by Tandu [22] (2.24%). The rate of ash found in the leaves is slightly higher than that found in the stems (18.4%) and higher than that found in the roots (15.8%) and seeds (12.1%). The season influences the average mineral content (16.08% in the dry season and 16% in the wet season). The fat content found in the leaves is 0.326%, it is lower than that found in the roots 0.366% and lower than that found in the stems 0.38%, the fat content found in the seeds is lower compared to the others. Thus constituting the energy reserve during the dry season, the fat content is largely abundant in the dry season (0.321%) than in the rainy season (0.17%).
The whole plant consumed releases an energy value of 19.4286% in the dry season and 12.846% in the rainy season, much lower than that found by Ngondo [30] with an energy value of 450.12 Kcal.
It would be interesting in further studies to carry out photochemical analysis of the different explants of T. triangulare in order to determine the opportunity to use the tuberous roots in feed rations for cattle, after a detoxification process.

CONCLUSION
The present study revealed that T. triangulare is excellent sources of protein and minerals with moderate level of crude fibre. There is a general misconception that non-conventional leafy vegetables as well as other edible plants are nutritionally poor and hence unimportant. Since these leafy vegetables are readily available at nominal or no cost, they are promising low cost food supplement and substitute for major food in times of scarcity. Therefore, they should be considered as reliable ingredients of food security system.
The consumption of T. triangulare can be recommended in the same way as Basella alba. For the moment it grows wild and few market gardeners are trying to cultivate it. The cultivation of T. triangulare should be promoted along with other vegetables as part of nutrition education, especially in low-income middle-income countries. We invite all those interested in this kind of study to be able to exploit other aspects that we have not studied, such as the content of mineral salts and vitamins. We only hope that this work, which undoubtedly is not perfect, will certainly contribute to the revelation of local foodstuffs, in the perspective of solutions to the problems of food deficiency in our country. The results of this study can only be beneficial and accessible to the population through the popularization of culture and consumer awareness.