Evaluation de la teneur en protéines et en chlorophylle dans les feuilles de cinq variétés locales de manioc infectées par la mosaïque en République Centrafricaine

Abstract

Assessment of Protein and Chlorophyll contents in Leaves of Five Local Varieties of Cassava Infected by African Mosaic Virus in Central African Republic. In Central African Republic, cassava has become a staple and a source of income for almost all the rural population. Cassava Mosaic Virus is a major threat to cassava production and food security for the population. The loss of production due to this disease in the country is estimated at 50%. This decrease is linked from the physiological point of view to reduction of the leaf surface, but also to a drop of the chlorophyll level. In the Central African Republic, a part of the population prefers infected cassava leaves because they would be tastier. The objective of this study was to compare the levels of protein and chlorophyll in infected and healthy leaves to verify the hypothesis that high protein content in the leaves could be associated to their contamination by the virus. The results obtained showed that the protein content is higher in the infected leaves than in the healthy ones. The rate rises on average from 12.77±0.86% of the dry weight of the leaves in healthy plants to 22.88±2.93% in diseased plants. Chlorophyll content is low in plants severely affected by the mosaic virus, and higher in healthy plants with a respective content of 13.19±1.09 mg/l and 21.81±2,17 mg/l