Effect of Processing Methods on Sodium Glutamate Seasoning Production from Milk Bush (Thevetia peruviana) Seed Collected at Lafe Area, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Sodium glutamate is a major component for the production of seasoning. Studies have revealed that Thevetia peruviana seed contained high amount of glutamic acid which makes it essential for industrial applications. Hence, the objective of this paper was to evaluate the effect of oven-dried, air-dried and sun-dried processing methods on sodium glutamate seasoning production from milk bush (Thevetia peruviana) seed collected at Lafe Area, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria using appropriate standard procedures. The result for the qualitative determination of sodium glutamate ((seasoning) (oven, air and sun-dried kernel 0.792, 0.692 and 0.875 respectively against the control 0.750, 0.654 and 0.830) and quantitative analysis confirmed that the sample is sodium-glutamate (seasoning). The result revealed that there was presence of sufficient protein in the produced salt which can serve as a good source of protein, also the result showed that the processing technique does not affect the parameters evaluated.  It was concluded that the production of seasoning from the kernel of Thevetia peruviana is an alternative source of producing seasoning which is biological, biodegradable, available in large quantity by planting and can replace the existing chemically produced seasoning.