________________________________________ Available online at www.sadgurupublications.com * Author for correspondence; E-mail: nembarobertmartin@yahoo.com J. Curr. Chem. Pharm. Sc.: 2(1), 2012, 17-23 ISSN 2277-2871 QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF MINERAL ELEMENTS IN THE LEAVES OF CORCHORUS FASCICULARIS AND CORCHORUS OLITORIUS HARVESTED IN CAMEROON ROBERT M. NEMBA * , ALPHONSE EMADAK, GILBERT C. MOUZONG and CHRISTIANE E. NEMBA Faculty of Sciences, Laboratory of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Section of Molecular Topology and Radiochemistry, University of Yaounde I, P.O. Box 812, YAOUNDE, CAMEROON (Received : 27.11.2011; Revised : 09.12.2011; Accepted : 11.12.2011) ABSTRACT Corchorus Olitorius and Corchorus Fascicularis are two species of Tiliaceae plants encountered in the humid forest zones of the sub-Saharan Africa. Both species exist in Cameroon and are cultivated as legumes and exploited by the local populations for food and medical issues. The present survey, achieved in two main sites of production called Ezazou and Nkolbisson in the suburban area of Yaoundé capital city of Cameroon, consists in valuing the mineral content of the leaves of these plants in one hand and to discuss the differences of concentrations within species on the other hand. The analyses performed by Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) reveal in both species a similar uptake of the following mineral elements: K, Ca, P, Mg, Cl, Na, Al, Fe, Mn, Sr, Ni, Cu, Br, Cd, Pb, Se, Th, Hg, Cr and V. These elements are partitioned in three groups. The first group includes K, Ca, P, Mg and Cl, which totalize a global concentration of more than 98% of the total concentration of the elements previously enumerated. The second group totalizes less than 1.8% of the total mineral uptake and consists of Na, Al, Fe, Mn, Sr, Rb, Ni, Cu, Ba and Br. The third group of mineral constituents includes Cd, Pb, Se, Th, Hg, Cr and V, which totalize less than 0.2% of the total mineral uptake. It is to be noticed that in both sites, Na is three times more concentrated in the samples of Corchorus Fascicularis in relation to those of Corchorus Olitorius while K, Ca, P, Mg and Cl are invariably the major mineral constituents of these two plant species. Key words: Edible leaves, Tiliaceae, Corchorus Olitorius, Corchorus Fascicularis X-ray Fluorescence, Mineral elements. INTRODUCTION The Genus Corchorus which belongs to the family of tiliaceae plants, comprises 60 species disseminated in the world and about 30 have been enumerated in Africa 1 . In this family of plants Corchorus Olitorius and Corchorus Fascicularis are two main species traditionally cultivated in the tropical humid forest zone of Cameroon 2,3 . Their edible leaves play an economical role in the strategy of food security of urban populations 4,5 . Different parts of Corchorus Olitorius and Corchorus Fascicularis are also used in folk medicine notably the seeds as laxative, the leaves to relieve stomach pains, the roots for treating toothache and the stems for treating cardiovascular disorder 6 . The emphasis of the present survey, conducted in two main production sites called Esazou and Nkolbisson respectively located in the south and the north east of the suburban zone of Yaoundé, capital city of Cameroon with two millions city dwellers, is to carry out a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the