Nutrient composition and antinutritional factors of Dialium guineense willd fruit pulp

Abstract

Dialium guineense fruit pulp, eaten raw in dry form by some tribes in Nigeria was studied for its proximate chemical, vitamin and mineral composition, and antinutritional factors using standard methods of AOAC (1995). 100g portion of the dry fruit pulp was found to contain 4.0 g moisture, 8.3 g crude protein, 4.9 g crude lipids, 3.2 gash, 0.6 g crude fibre, 79.6 g carbohydrates; and yielded 289.0 Kcal of energy. The pulp was fairly high in potassium (260 mg), sodium (390 mg), magnesium (300 mg) and iron (4.1 mg); low in calcium (47.0 mg) and phosphorus ( 42.9 mg) per 100 g pulp respectively. The pulp was also low in antinutritional factors but poor in vitamins. Except for moisture and carbohydrates, the unripe sample was lower in all the nutrients studied. The dry fruit pulp can serve as a food supplement or snack for its consumers as a means of meeting part of their daily nutritional needs (Recommended Dietary Allowances).

Keywords: Dialium guineense fruit pulp, nutrient, antinutritional factors, ripe, unripe.