CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION OF SANDBOX (Hura crepitan) SEED FLOUR FOR DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION AND INDUSTRIAL UTILIZATION IN NIGERIA

Olatidoye, O.P^1*, Adeleke, A.E², Adegbite, S.A³and Sobowale, S.S⁴

¹Department of Food Science and Technology, ^2,3Department of Chemical Sciences,

 Igbinedion University Okada, Nigeria

⁴Department of Food Science and Technology, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta

waledoye@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Proximate, amino acids composition Hura Crepitan seed flourand physicochemical characteristics of oil were determined using standard analytical techniques. The mean values of various parameters for proximate composition (%) were: moisture (5.2±0.03), ash (31.06±0.06), crude fat (43.52±0.01), crude fibre (2.60±0.02) and carbohydrate (by difference) (10.06±0.016).The fatty acids were determined to be 34.82% and energy was 2306.56kJ/100g. Minerals(mg/100g) included: Zn(1.83), Fe(6.38), Mg(35.92), Na(71.94), Ca(117.17), K(62.17), P(24.60), Ni(0.30) and Cr(1.14) while Pb, Cd and Hg were not detected. Amino acid analysis revealed that Hura Crepitan seed flour contained nutritionally useful quantities of most of the essential amino acids. pH (5.92), density (0.77), free fatty acid (0.87),viscosity(39.55) and specific gravity (0.92).The seed oil was odourless at room temperature with light yellow colour. These results suggest that Hura crepitan seeds may be viable sources of oil going by their oil yield. However, the studied characteristics of all oils extracts in most cases compared favourably with otherseed oil which is presently used for many domestic and industrial purposes in Nigeria.

Keywords: Hura Crepitan seed flour, chemical composition, physico-chemical properties.