N.C. Onuegbu
Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
I.I. Adedokun
Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
N.O. Kabuo
Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
J.N. Nwosu
Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The proximate composition, pH, titrable acidity, amino acid profile, mineral and water-soluble vitamins content of African pear pulp were analyzed. The moisture content was 13.79% which resulted to a high dry matter content of 86.79%. This suggests a nutrient dense pulp and a quicker dehydration rate with low energy input. A high oil content (32.56%) was also observed which will give a high yield of edible oil during oil extraction process. Some of the minerals found were sodium (3756.86 mg/kg), iron (15.33 mg/kg), manganese (89.72 mg/kg), copper (63.69 mg/kg) among others. Ascorbic acid (164.84 mg/100 g), niacin (17.11 mg/100 g) and pyridoxine (33.9 mg/100 g) was found. Among the essential amino acids, leucine (7.49 g/100 g protein) was highest while methionine (0.81 g/100 g protein) was lowest. Tryptophan was not detected in any of the samples. The nonessential amino acids were also found in varying amounts. Glutamic acid was highest (13.24 g/100 g protein) while histidine was lowest (2.19 g/100 g protein). The results show that African pear pulp can be a useful raw material for edible oil production while its cake can be useful in food and feed supplementation.
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How to cite this article
N.C. Onuegbu, I.I. Adedokun, N.O. Kabuo and J.N. Nwosu, 2011. Amino Acid Profile and Micronutrient Composition of the African Pear (Dacryodes edulis) Pulp. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 10: 555-557.
DOI: 10.3923/pjn.2011.555.557
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=pjn.2011.555.557
DOI: 10.3923/pjn.2011.555.557
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=pjn.2011.555.557
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