Breakfast cereals was formulated from blends of acha and fermented okara (soybean residue). Acha grains were cleaned, winnowed, washed, dried (at 50°C for 4 h) and milled into flour. Okara was processed from soybean seed through the stepwise procedure of cleaning, soaking, washing, milling and sieving. The residue was divided into five portions, fermented differently for 0, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h and then dried at 50°C for 6 h. Acha flour (UFAC) was milled and blended at 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 % ratio with milled okara flour. Functional properties (bulk density, water absorption capacity, swelling capacity, wettability, viscosity and particle size distribution, microbial load, and proximate composition were carried out on the individual flour samples. The blended flours were conditioned, partially heat treated (for 10 min
Considerably large quotas of insect species worldwide are prospective sources of food with high nutrient value, which suggests their importance in human diets. This study investigates and compares the nutrient and anti-nutrient contents of
Oryctes rhinoceros
larva and
Zonocerus variegatus
. The nutrient and anti-nutrient compositions of both
Oryctes rhinoceros
larva (palm beetles) and
Zonocerus variegatus
(grasshopper) were determined following standard procedures. The proximate results revealed that
Oryctes rhinoceros
had higher amounts of crude protein (34.76 ± 0.44%) and carbohydrate (10.37 ± 1.73%) compared to those in
Zonocerus variegatus
((30.73 ± 1.15%) and (5.36 ± 2.15%) respectively), while crude lipid (20.00 ± 0.00%) was higher in
Zonocerus variegatus
. Rich mineral components were also obtained in both insects. Potassium and sodium (1905.01 ± 185.01 mg/100g and 1656.00 ± 46.00 mg/100g) were moderately high in
Zonocerus variegatus
compared to
Oryctes rhinoceros
(1070.00 ± 260.00 mg/100g and 931.50 ± 11.50 mg/100g), while calcium (368.00 ± 16.00 mg/100g) was comparably higher in
Oryctes rhinoceros
. The anti-nutrient values of both insects fall within tolerable levels, and subsequently pose no threat to life, indicating that these insects are good sources of several macro and micronutrients.
Oryctes rhinoceros
, however, may likely serve as a better source of nutrients, considering its more valuable contents of macromolecules.
African eggplants, Solanum melongena fruit (SMF) and Solanum aethiopicum fruit (SAF) are widely cultivated in Nigeria and across the Africa. This study is designed to evaluate and compare the proximate and phytochemical components of SMF and SAF. Proximate composition of both fruit samples shows that SMF has higher moisture content than SAF. Protein, fats and ash contents were non-significantly (p < 0.05) higher in SAF compared with SMF. The fibre content was 3.11 ± 0.03 and 2.98 ± 0.08 % for SMF and SAF, respectively. The carbohydrate content of SAF (4.14± 0.11%) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of SMF (2.42 ± 0.12%). The results obtained for the phytochemical composition show that cardiac glycosides, anthocyanins and anthraquinone are low for both fruit samples. The phenolic content of SMF was 5.80 ± 0.4 g and that of SAF was 4.17 ± 0.03 g. In this study, we reported a flavonoid content of 2.80 ± 0.08 and 1.46 ± 0.01 g, as well as saponin content of 1.34 ± 0.31 and 0.81 ± 0.23 g for SMF and SAF, respectively. SAF has a tannin content of 0.82 ± 0.14 g, and 1.28 ± 0.05 g for SMF. Eighteen amino acids were identified (Essential and non-essential amino acids) with glutamine having the highest percentage (94.69%) and the lowest in percentage was Threonine (0.014%). In conclusion, the results of this study show that SMF and SAF have adequate nutritional value could be valuable raw material for health and pharmaceutical industries.
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