Authors : V.O. Onibon , F.O. Abulude and L.O. Lawal
Abstract: Studies were carried out on fresh fruits of banana (Musa esculentum), apple (Eugenia malascensis), guava (Psidium guajava), pawpaw (carica papaya), sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) to determine the nutritional and antinutritional composition in them. Chemical analysis of the extracts of the fruits revealed that moisture was 70.59 g 100 g 1 DM in apple, to 91.28 g 100 g 1 DM in sweet orange; ash content varied from 0.25 g 100 g 1 DM in apple to 0.29 g 100 g 1 DM in guava and dry matter was as low as 8.72 g 100 g 1 DM in sweet orange to as high as 29.41 g 100 g 1 DM in apple. Elemental analysis of minerals gave the range of concentrations as Ca 0.016-29.64 mg g 1, Mg: 0.050-28.24 mg g 1, K:27.12-398.56 mg g 1, Zn:0.01-22.09 mg g 1 and Fe:0.19-13.04 mg g 1. Potassium was found to be the most abundant while Iron was least. Tannin contents of the fruits ranged between 3.40-48.16 mg 100 g 1. Phytate contents were between 2.88-10.71 mg 100 g 1, while the oxalate contents ranged between 1.89-4.50 mg 100 g 1 dry matter. The result showed that the fruits have safe and adequate dietary nutrients if consumed in right proportion and the antinutrients compositions are within tolerable level.
V.O. Onibon , F.O. Abulude and L.O. Lawal , 2007. Nutritional and Anti-Nutritional Composition of Some Nigerian Fruits . Journal of Food Technology, 5: 120-122.