Mineral elements of some wild plants of traditional uses in the Moroccan Rif Mountains.

BACKGROUND

Wild edible plants (WEPs) that are part of the Mediterranean diet and used in Moroccan traditional food and therapy are now less or not used. This requires their valorization to avoid the threat of their disappearance. The objective of this work was therefore to determine the mineral content in the parts of some WEPs species used for their health benefits in the Rif in Morocco.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The parts of the WEPs species used, the leaves of (Vahl) masters, the aerial parts of L., the stems of L., the seeds of Coss. & Dur., known under the local names of Laaraar, Halhal, Foua, and Kamoun soufi respectively, are washed with distilled water, dried in an oven and crushed. The extracts of the powders obtained are analyzed for the quantification of mineral elements by ICP spectrophotometer.

RESULTS

The analysis results of ICP-OES show that the aerial parts of L. are rich in K, Mg, Fe, Na, and Zn. The stems of L. are rich in Fe, Na, Mg, Zn, K, Ca, and Mn. The leaves of (Vahl) masters are rich in Fe, Ca, K, Na, Mn and Mg and the seeds of Coss. & Dur. are rich in K, Ca, Mg, Na.

CONCLUSION

The results reported in the samples of the WEPs analyzed present significant contents in minerals, in particular in K, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, Zn and Mn and show that in addition to their medicinal values these species have a nutritional potential and could contribute to the dietary balance.