The vegetation existing on the Earth represents a resource of incomparable richness.  Green leaves contain more nutritive elements than grains and roots, except for calories.
Their value in terms of protein is the equal to the majority of animal products and they surpass them in terms of vitamins and micro-nutrients.
But the human digestive system is not adapted to consume leaves directly.  It is incapable of absorbing and digesting a volume sufficient to meet our nutritional needs.

That is why APEF proposes:

1. to extract from leaves the most nutritive components: proteins, vitamins and micro-nutrients, after having eliminated the non-digestible fibrous parts of the plant and a large proportion of the mineral content of the whole plant.
2. to provide, in a dry, concentrated and easily digestible form, these nutritive components as a supplement to the basal diets of the malnourished.  The principle is simple: as soon as it is harvested, the plant is ground up and pressed, and the green juice obtained is heated to 90oC.  The heat makes the proteins coagulate, taking with them substances that are mostly either insoluble or soluble in oil, amongst them vitamins, lipids and micro-nutrients.  The leaf extract (coagulum) – known as leaf concentrate (LC) – is filtered, dried and packed for later use as it is or mixed with other foods.  The residual fibre is an excellent animal feed.  The realisation of its value is an indispensable part of the economic balance of making leaf concentrate.

Perspectives and development

The objective of APEF is to spread, worldwide, the concept of making leaf concentrate together with, where possible, self-sufficiency on a local scale so as to ensure that, one day, the needs of all malnourished populations are met.
Development can take place as follows:

1. At the domestic level with a simple method put together by SOYNICA in NICARAGUA, using green leaves from legumes or local plants and even shrubs or bushes.  However, the volume produced is very small.  The process is adapted to the needs of a malnourished family in rural areas or for a few individuals.  It is described in the “Domestic method of making LC” (click here).
2. At the level of a village or group of villages, using the process developed by Leaf for Life.  However, this is inconvenient and the cost is high.
3. At a regional level, by building small semi-industrial units close to fertile, irrigated land, as long as the value of the fibrous residue as animal feed is taken utilised – in particular, cattle for milk or meat, consuming the fibre directly.

But the LC produced in France is indispensable

1. For consumption in regions where the agriculture is unsuitable: land quality, climate, availability of water, in towns, countries with unstable politics or a poor economic environment and, above all, in places where millions of individuals are suffering now from malnutrition and cannot be rescued quickly without production and help from abroad.
2. To launch initial feeding programmes in regions where indigenous production may be possible, prior to the installation of local equipment.
3. In programmes of food aid mixed with ready-to-use foods.  Thanks to its richness, LC corrects effectively, and at low cost, the nutritional deficiencies of cereals, legumes, roots and tubers either available locally or imported.

Nutritional content and use of LC

The process of making leaf concentrate limits the quantities of constituents typically found in basal foods (hydrates of carbon: glucides, sugars) and those less useful (ligno-cellulose); it results in a very dense concentrate, with only 8% of the dry matter of the original plant, which is very rich in protein, vitamins, lipids and minerals.  This concentrate is the ideal complement for cereals and legumes, which form an indispensable but nutritionally unbalanced basal diet for many poor populations.  Just 5 to 15 grammes of LC per day are enough to replace the animal products, the vegetables and fruits which these populations lack.  The nutritional content of LC is summarised in the attached table and compared with other common foods. 
Please click here to view the “COMPARISON TABLE ”.

At the start, APEF relied on the British experience with moist LC to determine the daily quantities of dried LC to give to children and mothers.  Now we have compiled information from our various centres of nutrition and prepared a “How to use” document, which covers, in brief, storage and consumption. 
Please click here to view “LC USAGE ”.