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Papaya (Carica papaya) is a common tropical fruit used for nutrition as well as medicinal purposes. Apart from fruit, seed, latex and other plant parts of papaya tree have been shown to have medicinal properties. Since, no systematic study has been performed on nutritional analysis of papaya (Carica papaya L. var solo 8) peels. In this study, the proximate composition, mineral element profile and phytochemical composition of papaya (Carica papaya L. var solo 8) peels were investigated. The peels were harvested fresh, dried in an oven at 45°C for 48 hours, ground and analyzed according to standard procedures. Proximate analysis showed high level of proteins (11.67 ± 0.04 %), crude fibre (32.51 ± 0.03 %), carbohydrate (47.33 ± 0.08 %), ash (5.98 ± 0.03 %) 0.03 %) and fat (2.51 ± 0.13 %). Mineral analysis indicated the papaya (Carica papaya L. var solo 8) peels were specifically rich in potassium and phosphorus. Potassium was found to be the most abundant mineral present in the peels (516.33 ± 0.82 mg/100g). Phytochemical composition showed high level of total phenolic (65.48 ± 0.39 mg (GAE)/100 g DW), flavonoids (5.58 ± 0.83 mg (QE)/100 g DW) and tannins (10.51 ± 0.93 mg (TAE)/100 g DW). The methanolic extracts of the papaya (Carica papaya L. var solo 8) peels exhibited the high DPPH radical scavenging activities (81.89 ± 0.14 %).These data indicated that this papaya (Carica papaya L. var solo 8) peels could constitute a potential good source of natural antioxidant for local population.

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Some wild edible mushrooms of genus Russula are consumed in the center region of Côte d'Ivoire. In this study, the proximate composition, mineral element and amino acid profile of three selected wild edible Russula species from Center of Côte d'Ivoire including Russula delica, Russula lepida and Russula mustelina were investigated. The mushrooms were harvested fresh, dried in an oven at 45°C for 48 hours, ground and analyzed according to standard procedures. Proximate analysis showed high level of proteins (38.08±0.29-38.52±0.23 %), crude fibre (9.59±0.21-19.78±0.7 %), carbohydrate (39.29±1.71-41.64±1.41 %), ash (12.7±0.16-13.80±0.10 %) and fat (4.06±0.11-5.70±0.05 %) in all species. Mineral analysis of all species indicated that the mushrooms were specifically rich in potassium, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium. R. delica contained the highest level of calcium and phosphorus. The mushrooms contained 18 amino acids among with the most predominant ones in all species were glutamic acid and valine. In addition, the ratios of essential amino acids to total amino acids were between 0.40 and 0.45. The high scores of essential amino acids present in these mushrooms implied that they have a high biological protein value. These mushrooms could be considered as a potential health food and may be of use to the food industry as a source of ingredients with high nutritional value.

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