2 research outputs found
Nutrient content and anti-nutritional factors in shea butter (Butryospermum parkii) leaves
Sample of shea-butter leaves were analyzed for, anti-nutrients and proximate composition. The proximate result showed that the leaf has high content of carbohydrate (13.82%) compared to other types of leaves. The content of anti-nutrients observed is low; phytate (0.19%), tannic acid (1.50%) andoxalate (0.80%) and these can be tolerated by the body system. The low level of these constituent will not pose a serious nutritional problem in consumption of shea-butter leaves. The leaf extract was also observed to be a good source of iron (3.80 mg/kg), magnesium (19.16 mg/kg) and potassium (0.61 mg/kg). Three amino acids; valine, phenylalanine and leucine were as well found in the leaf extract
Effects Of Drying Methods On Properties Of Water Melon ( Citrullus Lanatus ) Seed Oil
An experiment to investigate the effect that different drying methods
would have on the quality and quantity of oil from water melon (
Citrullus lanatus ) seeds was conducted. The water melon seeds were
removed from the pod and washed. The sample was weighed and divided
into two equal parts; one part was subjected to sun drying while the
other part was subjected to oven drying (at a temperature of
30°C). Drying by sun as expected was gradual as compared to the
oven drying method which was faster and more rapid. The dried seeds
(sun-dried or oven-dried) were de-husked, dry-milled into fine crumbs
using hand milling machine. The powdered product from the mill was then
subjected to oil extraction using hexane as solvent. Results show that
there was no significant difference in the quantity of oil obtained
from either of the samples. The sun-dried sample yielded 56% of
oil/100g of seeds, compared to the oven-dried samples which yielded 57%
of oil/100g of seeds. However, it was observed that Free Fatty Acid
(FFA) and Acid values were higher in oven-dried sample relative to the
sun-dried sample; whereas other chemical properties were not affected.
Free Fatty Acid value for the oven-dried sample was 6.4% and 2.4% for
the sun-dried sample. This is an important variable in considering the
quality of oil because the lower the FFA, the better the quality of the
oil. Analysis also revealed that the properties of oil extracted from
both samples fall within that of non-drying oil. Crude protein in the
seed was 26 % which compared favourably with high protein seeds and
nuts like cowpea (22.7%) soybeans (35%). This implies that the oil
samples are edible to humans. The high protein content of the seed
coupled with a fairly high concentration distribution of the Amino
acids makes the seed suitable for fortification of foods while the oils
can serve as a good supplement in animal feed formulation. Oil from the
sun-dried sample will however be preferable because of its low acid
value though the extracted oil from the two samples still needs to be
refined. Meanwhile, the oil samples may not be used as alkyl resin for
manufacturing of paints or bar soap due to their low saponification
values. Large quantity of potassium hydroxide will certainly be
required to prepare soap from these oils