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Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties

Received: 27 October 2014    Accepted: 4 November 2014    Published: 10 November 2014
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Abstract

The limited information on the health and nutritional benefits of edible arils of the ackee (Blighia sapida) tree makes it underutilized in West Africa. This study was to investigate the nutrient content, total phenols, antioxidant activity and phytochemical constituents of freeze and oven dried ackee arils. Phytochemical analysis was done using standard protocol whereas antioxidant activity and total phenol content was determined using the DPPH and Folin-Ciocalteau methods, respectively. The minerals content was determined by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The moisture, crude fat, crude protein, crude fibre, ash, carbohydrate and energy content were in the range of 4.83-5.20%, 51.60-56.66%, 10.94-11.67%, 3.63-3.88%, 8.01-8.56%, 14.41-20.62% and 590.67-614.26 kcal/100g, respectively. The ackee arils also contained appreciable minerals (Ca, P, Mg, Na, K and Zn) with K (425.10-475.71 mg/100g) being the highest while Zn (1.95-2.08 mg/100g) was the least mineral. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, saponins and glycosides in the arils. The total phenolic content was 5235.04±103.9 and 5175.38±178.46 mg GAE/100g in oven-dried and freeze-dried samples, respectively. The vitamin C content was 29.6 and 35.7 mg/100 g whereas antioxidant activity was 66.0 and 29.4 % DPPH inhibition (with trolox equivalence of 91.0±9.4 and 40.6±0.6 µM TE/g) in the oven and freeze dried ackee arils, respectively. Drying method had effect on the phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of the ackee flour sample. The findings suggest that ackee aril had considerable total phenols content and antioxidant activity, which implies that the fruit aril has the potential for application in food systems to maintain food quality.

Published in International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17
Page(s) 534-537
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Ackee, Ackee Arils, Freeze Dried, Oven Dried, Nutrients, Antioxidants, Phytochemicals

References
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[13] John-Dewole, O. O. and Popoola, O. O. (2013).Chemical, Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Screening of Extracts of B. sapida for Agricultural and Medicinal Relevance. Nature and science, vol. 11, Issue10, p12-17, 6.
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Cite This Article
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    Veronica M. Dossou, Jacob K. Agbenorhevi, Sussana Combey, Sarah Afi-Koryoe. (2014). Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences, 3(6), 534-537. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17

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    ACS Style

    Veronica M. Dossou; Jacob K. Agbenorhevi; Sussana Combey; Sarah Afi-Koryoe. Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties. Int. J. Nutr. Food Sci. 2014, 3(6), 534-537. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17

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    AMA Style

    Veronica M. Dossou, Jacob K. Agbenorhevi, Sussana Combey, Sarah Afi-Koryoe. Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties. Int J Nutr Food Sci. 2014;3(6):534-537. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17,
      author = {Veronica M. Dossou and Jacob K. Agbenorhevi and Sussana Combey and Sarah Afi-Koryoe},
      title = {Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties},
      journal = {International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {6},
      pages = {534-537},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnfs.20140306.17},
      abstract = {The limited information on the health and nutritional benefits of edible arils of the ackee (Blighia sapida) tree makes it underutilized in West Africa. This study was to investigate the nutrient content, total phenols, antioxidant activity and phytochemical constituents of freeze and oven dried ackee arils. Phytochemical analysis was done using standard protocol whereas antioxidant activity and total phenol content was determined using the DPPH and Folin-Ciocalteau methods, respectively. The minerals content was determined by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The moisture, crude fat, crude protein, crude fibre, ash, carbohydrate and energy content were in the range of 4.83-5.20%, 51.60-56.66%, 10.94-11.67%, 3.63-3.88%, 8.01-8.56%, 14.41-20.62% and 590.67-614.26 kcal/100g, respectively. The ackee arils also contained appreciable minerals (Ca, P, Mg, Na, K and Zn) with K (425.10-475.71 mg/100g) being the highest while Zn (1.95-2.08 mg/100g) was the least mineral. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, saponins and glycosides in the arils. The total phenolic content was 5235.04±103.9 and 5175.38±178.46 mg GAE/100g in oven-dried and freeze-dried samples, respectively. The vitamin C content was 29.6 and 35.7 mg/100 g whereas antioxidant activity was 66.0 and 29.4 % DPPH inhibition (with trolox equivalence of 91.0±9.4 and 40.6±0.6 µM TE/g) in the oven and freeze dried ackee arils, respectively. Drying method had effect on the phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of the ackee flour sample. The findings suggest that ackee aril had considerable total phenols content and antioxidant activity, which implies that the fruit aril has the potential for application in food systems to maintain food quality.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties
    AU  - Veronica M. Dossou
    AU  - Jacob K. Agbenorhevi
    AU  - Sussana Combey
    AU  - Sarah Afi-Koryoe
    Y1  - 2014/11/10
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17
    T2  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    SP  - 534
    EP  - 537
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2327-2716
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17
    AB  - The limited information on the health and nutritional benefits of edible arils of the ackee (Blighia sapida) tree makes it underutilized in West Africa. This study was to investigate the nutrient content, total phenols, antioxidant activity and phytochemical constituents of freeze and oven dried ackee arils. Phytochemical analysis was done using standard protocol whereas antioxidant activity and total phenol content was determined using the DPPH and Folin-Ciocalteau methods, respectively. The minerals content was determined by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The moisture, crude fat, crude protein, crude fibre, ash, carbohydrate and energy content were in the range of 4.83-5.20%, 51.60-56.66%, 10.94-11.67%, 3.63-3.88%, 8.01-8.56%, 14.41-20.62% and 590.67-614.26 kcal/100g, respectively. The ackee arils also contained appreciable minerals (Ca, P, Mg, Na, K and Zn) with K (425.10-475.71 mg/100g) being the highest while Zn (1.95-2.08 mg/100g) was the least mineral. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, saponins and glycosides in the arils. The total phenolic content was 5235.04±103.9 and 5175.38±178.46 mg GAE/100g in oven-dried and freeze-dried samples, respectively. The vitamin C content was 29.6 and 35.7 mg/100 g whereas antioxidant activity was 66.0 and 29.4 % DPPH inhibition (with trolox equivalence of 91.0±9.4 and 40.6±0.6 µM TE/g) in the oven and freeze dried ackee arils, respectively. Drying method had effect on the phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of the ackee flour sample. The findings suggest that ackee aril had considerable total phenols content and antioxidant activity, which implies that the fruit aril has the potential for application in food systems to maintain food quality.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

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