The amino acid profile of the Synsepalum dulcificum berry was studied. Among the essential amino acid observed, leucine (2.35 g/100 g protein) was the highest while methionine (0.31 g/100 g protein) was the lowest. The nonessential amino acids were also discovered, with glutamic acid (3.43 g/100 g protein) being the highest and glycine (0.38 g/100 g protein), the lowest. The study of the oxidizable vitamins revealed that vitamin C (1.33 mg/100 g) was more abundant than vitamin A (2.54 µg) and vitamin E (0.78 mg/100 g). This information will hopefully enhance the fruits acceptability by more people and thus, generally promote its utilization and appreciation in our diets.

Aim: Jackfruit is an underutilized tropical and subtropical fruit that is consistently lost to wastages and postharvest losses, neither has it gained substantial research attention. Therefore, the study is aimed at the production and evaluation of breakfast cereals formulated from composite blends of maize flour and jackfruit seed flour. Study Design: This study was made to fit into a one way Analysis of Variance. Place and Duration of Study: The research was carried out at the Department of Food Science and Technology laboratory, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, between February 2018 and October 2018. Methodology: Flaked breakfast cereals were produced from blends of different ratios of Maize flour to Jackfruit seed flour. The formulated breakfast cereal products were evaluated for proximate composition, functional properties, anti-nutritional properties, mineral content and sensory properties. Results: The mineral content of the formulated breakfast cereals showed significant difference (P<0.05) in Ca(156.23-184.14mg/100g), Mg (179.28-207.81mg/100g), K(70.62-78.53mg/100g), Fe(4.01-5.46mg/100g), Na(9.44-10.66mg/100g), Zn(1.72-2.29mg/100g) and P(10.38-13.62mg/100g). The moisture content (3.83 - 4.14%) of the formulated products was acceptable for shelf life extension of the flaked breakfast cereal products. Protein, ash, crude fiber and fat content of the formulated breakfast cereal products increased with increased addition of jackfruit seed flour while the carbohydrate and energy value of the formulated products decreased with increased addition of jackfruit seed flour. Bulk density and water absorption capacity of the formulated products increased with increased addition of jackfruit seed flour while oil absorption capacity, foam capacity, viscosity and gelation capacity decreased with increased addition of jackfruit seed flour. Processing method significantly reduced the relatively high level of anti-nutrients associated with Jackfruit seed. Panelist preference increased with a corresponding decrease in jackfruit seed flour addition. Conclusion: Utilization of jackfruit in food product development may solve the problem of wastage and postharvest losses associated with this fruit.

Production and evaluation of biscuits made from wheat flour and toasted watermelon seed meal as fat substitute was studied. Extracted watermelon seeds were toasted and grounded into seed meal, which were later usedto formulate composite flour blends in the ratio of 10:90 (MW1), 20:80 (MW2), 30:70 (MW3), 40:60 (MW4) with and 50:50 (MW5) of water melon seed meal: wheat flour respectively, while 100% wheat flour served as control (W1). Each blend was used to produce biscuits adopting robbing process. The functional properties of flour blends, proximate composition and physical properties of the biscuit samples were determined. Sensory qualities of the biscuits were evaluated by 20-members panelist. The accepted composite biscuit samples was stored on a shelf for 6 weeks and analyzed for moisture and total viable count. Data obtained were analyzed statistically (P&le;0.05) for ANOVA, and means separated using Fisher&rsquo;s LSD Test. The results of the functional properties showed variations in behaviour. There were no significant differences (P&le;0.05) in pH, swelling index, viscosity and gelation temperature of the flour blends while significant differences &lsquo;(P&le;0.05) existed in bulk density, water absorption capacity and wetability. There were significant differences (P&le;0.05) in protein, fat, crude fibre, ash and carbohydrate for both flour blends and biscuit samples respectively. The addition of toasted watermelon seed meal increased protein, fat, crude fibre and ash contents while carbohydrate content decreased with higher substitution level of wheat flour. Moisture content ranged from 10-11 % (flour) and 6.25 -10% (biscuit). Significant differences (P&le;0.05) were recorded in thickness, spread ratio and break strength within the samples. The result of sensory evaluation showed that W1I was significantly different (P&le;0.05) in taste, aroma and overall acceptance. However, MW4 and MW5 were significantly different in texture, but in terms of crispiness, MW1 and MW3 were preferred. Moisture content of the preferred samples (MW1 and MW3) stored for 6 weeks increased from 6.25-11.75 % (MW1) and 6.75 &ndash; 11.0% (MW3) while the viable microbial counts ranged from 2.0 x 102-6.8 x 105cfu/g for bacteria and 1.8 x 101-7.4 x 103cfu/g for mould respectively.

Evaluation of proximate compositions, functional properties and oil characterization of ‘kpaakpa’ (Hildegardia barteri) seed was studied. Defatted and undefatted ‘kpaakpa’ (Hildegardia barteri) seed flours were produced. The proximate and functional properties were determined on both the defatted and undefatted flours. The crude ‘kpaakpa’ seed oil was extracted (using hexane solvent) and characterized. The result of proximate analysis showed the moisture content, ash, fat, crude fibre, protein and carbohydrate contents to be 11.18, 5.6, 37.92, 6.45 31.53 and 7.37% respectively for undefatted flour and 18.6, 6.8, 4.37, 1.99, 26.52 and 41.72% respectively of the defatted flour sample. The results of functional properties did not show a consistent behavior for all the parameters analyzed for both defatted and undefatted ‘kpaakpa’ seed. However, it showed that defatting operation increased most of the functional properties except for bulk density and wettability which increased in undefatted ‘kpaakpa’ seed flour. The results obtained for the oil characterization of the extracted crude ‘kpaakpa’ seed oil showed 0.86 g/g for specific gravity, 0.87g/ml for density, 8.84 mgKOH/g for peroxide value, 55.36% for unsaponifiable matter, 56.48% for iodine value, 0.30% for free fatty acid (FFA) and 0.59% for acid value. The results obtained in this study indicate that both the defatted and undefatted ‘kpaakpa’ seed flour can be utilized in food system because they are good sources of protein, can be used to substitute or supplement flours with low protein in food production and can as well be useful sources of low-fat fabricated foods as well as animal feeds. The oil however can be utilized commercially for production of vegetable oil.

This physical properties, proximate composition and functional properties of Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) obtained from Enugu State were studied. The result obtained for dehulled and undehulled lima bean with respect to proximate composition gave the following value for dehulled lima bean: moisture 7.18%, crude fat 4.67%, protein 14.24%, crude fiber 17.89%, ash 0.66% and carbohydrate 55.36% while undehulled lima bean contents were moisture 4.30%, crude fat 2.62%, protein 16.31%, crude fiber 18.00%, ash content 2.13%, carbohydrate 56.14%. Moisture, crude fat, protein and ash contents were significantly different than crude fiber and carbohydrate. The functional properties showed higher values for dehulled than undehulled okpokoro flour. The emulsion capacity 4.35 (ml/g) for dehulled and 3.03 (ml/g) for undehulled; foam capacity 31.67% for dehulled and 25.33% for undehulled; bulk density 0.82 (ml/g) and 0.88(ml/g) water absorption capacity 2.238 (ml/g) for dehulled and 1.98(ml/g) for undehulled etc., showing that the dehulled okpokoro flour had better functional potentials than the undehulled flour.