Effect of Some Processing Methods on Selected Anti nutritional Factors of African Breadfruit (Treculia africana) Seed Flour

Abstract

The effect of some processing methods on selected anti-nutritional composition of African breadfruit seed (Treculia africana) flour was investigated. Matured African breadfruit seeds were sorted, washed and drained. The drained seeds were dehulled manually. The anti-nutritional parameters determined were tannin, hydrogen cyanide, saponin, alkaloids and oxalate. The samples were divided into three portions of 600 g each. The first 600 g of the breadfruit seeds sample was subdivided into 200 g each and cooked for 1, 2 and 3 h respectively. The second portion was also subdivided into 200 g each and soaked for 6, 12 and 18hours respectively. The cooked and soaked samples were then dried in an oven set at 60oC for 60 min. The remaining portion of 600 g was left raw to serve as control. All samples were milled and sieved into flour of particle size 1mm mesh. The flours were analysed for their anti-nutritional composition using standard methods. The results showed that the raw sample contained 3.20, 1.37, 2.49 and 0.35 mg/100 g of Hydrogen cyanide, Tannin, Saponin and Oxalate respectively and 4.00% of Alkaloids. There was a significant decrease (P<0.05) in anti-nutritional composition of the flour irrespective of the processing methods. Cooking for 3 h and Soaking for 18 h significantly (P<0.05) reduced hydrogen cyanide content to as low as 0.15 and 0.70 mg/100g respectively and reduced saponin to 0.38 and 0.63 mg/100 g respectively. Tannin and Oxalate were reduced to 1.55 and 1.65; 0.15 and 0.18 mg/100 g respectively using the two processing methods. Alkaloids also reduced to 1.38 and 1.51 %. It was concluded that either of the processing methods used in the study can be used as a safe processing method for African breadfruit seed as they both drastically reduced the anti-nutrients available in the raw seed.