Abstract
Starchy plants play an essential role in food security in Africa and the tropics. They are characterized by a high starch content, do not contain gluten and can therefore be an excellent source of carbohydrates, including for people suffering from celiac disease.The world production of manioc is increasing every year, especially in Africa where this tuber is one of the bases of the daily diet. However, few studies have evaluated the biological activity of this source of starch, contrary to the orange-fleshed sweet potato and conflore, which are moderately described. Based on this observation, my work first focused on the evaluation of the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the extracts of these flours as well as the determination of their physicochemical and phytochemical compositions.Secondly, in order to optimize the bioactive potential of cassava flour, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of some co-products, namely the leaves of the plant and the water recovered from the wet manufacturing process, were evaluated.The results of this study indicated that the orange sweet potato flour as well as the one of conflore strongly inhibit the production of NO, PGE-2, TNF-α, IL-6 and MCP-1 in a concentration-dependent manner while the one of manioc displayed much less important inhibition. However, the leaves of the cassava plant have a high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory power suggesting that they could be used as food, nutraceutical product or could contribute in the enrichment of cassava flour whose consumption is daily in countries where malnutrition is more frequent.The results of our study also indicate that during the manufacture of cassava flour by the wet process, some compounds are lost in water, including phenolic compounds with antioxidant potential.