Effects of Dehulling on the Vitamins, Minerals and Sensory Properties of Toasted African Breadfruit (Treculia africana) Seeds

Toasted dehulled African breadfruit seeds are popular snack in the south eastern part of Nigeria. Consumption of toasted dehulled seeds may result in hidden hunger due to some nutrient losses during toasting. Raw breadfruit seeds bought from the markets were sorted and divided into two batches. One batch was parboiled at 100°C for 15 minutes, manually dehulled, winnowed to remove the hulls and toasted in a frying pan at 45°C for 30 m with constant stirring to obtain crispy light brown seeds. The other batch was toasted without dehulling at same temperature-time regime and allowed to cool to room temperature before manual dehulling. Nutrient content of dehulled and undehulled toasted seeds were evaluated with standard analytical methods for nutrient losses and sensory properties to know the effects on acceptability. This study was carried out in Umuahia, Abia State capital of Abia State Nigeria between March and June, 2018. Results showed that un-dehulled toasted breadfruit (UTB) sample had significant (P=.05) higher vitamin A (1.62 mg/100 g), B1 (0.03 mg/100 g), B2 (0.02 mg/100 g), B3 (0.85 mg/100 g), vitamins C (2.61 mg/100/g), E (0.43 mg/100 g) than dehulled toasted breadfruit (DTB) sample with 1.47 mg/100 g, 0.02 mg/100 g, 0.01 mg/100/g, 0.76 mg/100 g, 2.44 mg/100 g and 0.37 mg/100 g respectively for vitamins A, B1, B2, B3 C and E. The UTB had significantly (P=.05) higher calcium (48.23), phosphorous (55.35), sodium (22.72), zinc (0.93) than DTB with respective values of 43.66, 52.67, 20.09 and 0.04 all in mg/100 g The DTB sample had significant (P=.05) higher potassium (336.29) magnesium (35.97) and iron (1.68) than UTB with respective values of 295.86, 32.85 and 1.53 all in mg/100 g. The UTB had significant (p< 0.05) higher general acceptability (7.51) than DTB (7.36). The DTB had higher loss in all the vitamins and in some mineral than DTB with better acceptability

Analysis of the Effects of Pasteurization on Proximate, Atwater Factor and Acceptability of Smoothie from Banana, Carrot and Soymilk Blends

Background: Single fruit consumption results in loss of appetite and consumption due to monotony of flavor thereby results in lack of functional nutrient inherent in fruits and vegetables. These functional nutrients prevent such chronic diseases like cancer, stroke among others alongside same health benefits. Conversely, combination of different fruits improves flavour and consumption thereby enhances phytonutrient consumption with reduced risk of chronic disease.Objective: As smoothies are pasteurized before short time storage in fridge by some people, this research understudied the effect of pasteurization on the proximate, Atwater factor and acceptability of smoothie from the blend of ripe banana, carrot and soymilk.Methods: Banana, carrot slices and soymilk were blended with variable speed kitchen blender in varying proportions to produce four samples of pasteurized and unpasteurized smoothie samples. The smoothie samples were subjected to proximate and acceptability using standard analytical methods. Energy values were by calculation using the Atwater factor.Results: Proximate composition of both pasteurized and unpasteurized smoothie samples showed that moisture ranged from 88.33 to 90.42%, ash 0.75 to 0.88%, crude protein 3.74 to 3.91%, crude fibre 0.14 to1.17%, fat 2.65 to 3.15% and, carbohydrate 2.82 to 3.90%. Energy values ranged from 154.02 to 211.470 Kj/100g.Sensory scores for taste ranged from 4 to 7, appearance 5 to 7, consistency 5 to 6 and general acceptability 5 to 7.Conclusion: The study revealed that pasteurization affected the proximate composition, energy values and acceptability of all the smoothie blends and therefore should be a matter of choice