Chemical composition of the Pulp and Seed Kernels of Baobab fruits from three different African Countries
Abstract: The baobab is among the commonly consumed wild fruits found in the semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa. It has a wide application in food systems and folk medicine and has an advantage of surviving even in harsh environmental conditions. While the fruit pulp is packed with a lot of essential nutrients and has gained much interest in recent past on the international market as a healthy ‘superfood’. The seed kernels are rich in proteins and essential fats, and thus, a suitable alternative energy source for rural communities where diets are usually deficient in these nutrients. This study was designed to determine the nutritional composition of the baobab fruit pulp and the seed kernels as there is only scanty data available in the species of the fruit found in Zambia. It is assumed that the nutritional characteristics of the fruits vary depending on their origin, hence, three species of baobab fruits from Zambia, Malawi and Eritrea, were investigated. The fruit pulp was separated from the seeds using a blender. The seed kernels were obtained from the seeds manually by rubbing the seeds between fingers following 5 minutes of boiling and 15 hours soaking. The results indicated varying amounts of ascorbic acid in the pulp, ranging from 20 to 260 mg/100g (p<0.05). The colour saturation of the pulp was distinctively different (p<0.05) among the samples and was inversely correlated to the ascorbic acid content. High phenolic content (3796 – 4447 GAE mg/100g) was recorded in the fruit pulp with the Malawian fruit being significantly below the other two. Dietary fibres ranged from 52.2 – 71.5 g/100g, relatively low amounts of the crude protein (2.2 – 2.6 mg/100g) and crude fat (0.1 – 0.4 mg/100g) were found in the pulp. Apart from the dietary fibre content no major differences were observed in the proximate and mineral content of the pulp. The seed kernels were mostly high in crude protein and fat content, with a high energy content of 512 – 530 kcal/100g. A greater contribution of the energy content was provided by the fat, 50.1 – 54.9%E and protein, 31.2 – 33.2%E. The kernels phenolic content was low in relation to the pulp (1380 – 1767 GAE mg/100g) but varied significantly among the samples (p<0.05). The nutritional composition of the seed kernels indicate that they can be an alternative source of protein and essential fats where the diet is deficient in these nutrients. The results also indicated that moderate consumption of the baobab fruit pulp and kernels can meet much of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for individuals. For instance, 40 g of fruit pulp can provide 260 and 120% of the recommended intakes of ascorbic acid for a child aged between 4-8 years and a pregnant woman between 19 -50 years old respectively. The same amount of pulp can provide over 100 and about 75% RDA of dietary fibre to an adult female and male respectively. While 40g of seed kernels will provide more than 100% of the RDA of protein to children between 1-3 years old. This data represents useful information to encourage adequate consumption of baobab fruit and promote utilization in food production.
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