Asian Food Science Journal

Agricultural wastes are by-products generated from growing and processing of agricultural commodities such as vegetables, fruits, meats, poultry and crops. The modernisation of agricultural practises creates huge number of wastes namely animals’ carcass, seeds and skins from crop and also trace of pesticide, along the chain. If these wastes are released without proper disposal procedure, it may cause negative effects to environment and jeopardize human health. Banana and pineapple are amongst the most common crops cultivated in tropical countries. With its bright colour, juicy delicious flesh, and well-studied beneficial compounds, these two fruits are being enjoyed as fresh consumption or in the form of food products like chips and jam. Unfortunately, the peel and the skin are currently being dumped to the landfill as waste. The objective of our study was to evaluate the chemical composition of banana peel and pineapple skin, in order to explore the utilisation of these so-called wastes as food ingredients. The samples were analysed for nutritional composition, anti-nutrients level and sugar profile. Proximate analysis according to AOAC 2000 method were conducted to collect the nutritional composition of samples, antinutrients factors were study via spectrophotometery analysis and sugar profile were achieved by using HPLC-ELSD method.  The results showed that ash, moisture, fat, protein were in the acceptable level (7.0±0.14, 7.55±1.48, 13.95±1.62, 5.0±2.82, 67.25±3.80  g/100 g respectively for banana peels and 3.49±0.02, 8.65±0.87, 0.38±0.07, 4.84±1.73 and 83.31±3.49 g/100 g for pineapple skins respectively) and acceptable levels of tannin and phytic acid for both samples. Analysis of sugar profile revealed that these high values agricultural waste contain fructose, glucose and sucrose – potentially being utilised as a good source of sweetners. Finally, we recommend that banana peels and pineapple skins should properly be processed and exploited as a high quality and inexpensive source of food ingredients.

The experiment was aimed at comparing the effect of preservation methods on proximate, vitamins and mineral composition of fresh, blanched and dried tomatoes.  The tomatoes samples were divided into three; fresh, blanched and dried tomatoes.

The research was conducted at the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, Bayero University, Kano, between the month of February 2019 and August 2019. The Proximate Composition was determined using AOAC methods (1975), the Vitamins were determined by (Pearson Chemical methods, 1970), and Minerals using (Atomic Absorption Spectro-photometer).The results of this research revealed the Blanched tomatoes has significant  higher (P=.05) percentage moisture (77.58±2.71), however it has the least percentage composition of Crude Protein and Carbohydrate. The fresh tomatoes has the higher  composition of crude fibre (17.00±1.87) and crude protein (1.78± 0.13) as compared with the other two samples at (P=.05), while the dried sample has the higher percentage composition of crude fat and Carbohydrate, (8.34±0.84) and (21.77±2.02) at (P=.05) respectively. Vitamin A and lycopene content were found to be significantly higher (P=.05) in Dried tomatoes, with Vitamin C content of blanched tomatoes been significantly higher (P=.05). Mineral analysis indicates that sodium, magnesium, calcium, copper and lead has no significant difference in all the three samples.

Conclusion: This study reveals that dried tomatoes are also a good source of Vitamin A, lycopene and other nutrients.

Objective: The objective of this study was to carry out a comparative proximate and dietary fibre analysis of some leafy vegetables commonly consumed in the Niger Delta region, Nigeria.

Methodology: The selected vegetables were Ugu leaf (Telfairia occidentalis), Water leaf (Talinum triangulare), Bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina), Scent leaf (Ocimum gratissimum) and Green leaf (Spinacia oleracea). These leaves were harvested from the University school farms of University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers State University and Delta State University to represent the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The samples were analyzed for proximate composition and dietary fibres using standard methods.

Results: Moisture, ash, fat, crude protein, crude fibre and carbohydrate contents of the leafy vegetables ranged from 70.95-92.11%, 1.90-5.18%, 0.07-1.47%, 1.54-8.78%, 1.90-7.89% and 1.42-10.54%, respectively. Total dietary and insoluble fibres of the vegetables grown in Niger Delta regions of Nigeria ranged from 4.10-23.12%. Dietary fibre of pumpkin leaves grown in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states as well as scent leaf from Rivers state were significantly (p<0.05) higher than vegetables from other states.

Conclusion: The result of this study therefore reveals that the proximate composition and dietary fibre content of the vegetables were significantly (p<0.05) affected by the locations in which they were harvested.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics and storage stability of virgin coconut oil (VCO) extracted using cold press and hot press processes. Data were collected and analyzed using complete randomization design (CRD). The work was done at the Department of Food Science and Technology, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. Virgin coconut oil (VCO) was extracted from mature nuts of Cocos nucifera, using the cold and the hot process. Hot process gave significantly (P<0.05) higher oil recovery of 58%, while cold process gave 52% oil recovery. Free fatty acid (FFA) content was 0.054% and 0.051% for cold press and hot press, respectively. Peroxide Value (PV) of the two oil samples were 1.173 mEq/ kg and 1.288 mEq/kg for CPCO and HPCO, respectively. The physicochemical properties of VCO from both processes were not significantly (P>0.05) different. Iodine value was 5.72 g/100 g and 6.09 g/100 g for cold pressed and hot pressed VCO, respectively. Lauric acid was the predominant fatty acid in the coconut oil samples, recording 49.30% in hot pressed coconut oil and 48.76% in cold pressed coconut oil. The melting point was found to increase while the smoke point decreased significantly (P<0.05) for both cold pressed and hot pressed VCO after three months of storage at room temperature (28±20C). Percentage free fatty acid and peroxide values increased significantly from 0.054% to 0.742% and 1.173 mEq/kg to 2.274mEq/kg, respectively, after 3 months of storage at room temperature (28±20C). The overall result showed that coconut is a good source of vegetable oil, with good keeping quality. More also, there isn’t much difference in the physicochemical quality of both hot press and cold press method of extraction.

This study evaluated flour blends from Wheat, Pearl millet and Andrographis paniculata leaf for functional properties and pasting characteristics profiling. The functional properties such as solubility, gelling capacity, water absorption capacity (WAC), Oil absorption capacity (OAC), Bulk density, foaming capacity and stability and swelling capacity and the pasting characteristics were studied. The inclusion of A. paniculata leaf flour in the blends revealed a significant general increase in water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, swelling capacity, and bulk density. However, a general decrease in the foaming capacity, solubility, and least gelation was observed as the inclusion of A. paniculata leaf flour increased. The pasting properties of WPMF (flour blend without the inclusion of A. paniculata leaf flour) exhibited the following values: peak viscosity (658 RVU), breakdown (372 RVU), final viscosity (923 RVU), setback (637 RVU), peak time (5.07 min), and pasting temperature (84.8^oC). The inclusion of A. paniculata leaf flour in the blends led to a significant general decrease in all the pasting factors. The inclusion of A. paniculata had a significant effect on the functional and pasting properties of wheat-pearl millet based flour.