Effect of softening agents on the chemical and anti-nutrient compositions of fermented Prosopis Africana seeds.
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Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Carpathian Journal of Food Science and Technology, Published by Technical University of Cluj Napoca, Romania
Abstract
The fermentation of Prosopis africana leads to the production of a local
condiment in Nigeria called Okpehe. In this study, Okpehe was processed
from Prosopis africana seeds using two chemical softening agents (wood
ash and potash) at different concentrations (1%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%).
Sample A was Okpehe processed with wood ash while potash was used for
processing sample B. The effect of these softening agents on chemical and
anti-nutritional (tannin, phytate and oxalate) composition of Okpehe was
investigated every 24 hours for 72 hours. Different concentrations (1%,
5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) of the antinutrients were used for the study.
There was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in pH (6.00 ñ 8.50), crude
protein (32.00 ñ 39.50%) and crude fibre (4.10 - 6.00%) while the amounts
of crude fat (12.02 ñ 7.20%) and carbohydrate (38.30 ñ 31.30%) decreased
significantly (p < 0.05) till the end of fermentation for all the samples.
There was reduction in the anti-nutritional content of Okpehe processed
with the two softening agents as fermentation progressed. Okpehe
processed with wood ash at 15% and that processed with potash at 20%
had better chemical composition and lower anti-nutritional values. Results
obtained from this study showed that wood ash is a better softening agent
that can be used in the processing of Okpehe with an accompanying
reduction in time and energy used in its production.
Description
Keywords
Softening agent, Chemical composition, Anti-nutritional composition, Prosopis, Africana, Condiment