Analyzing the effects of hydrothermal treatment on antinutritional factor content of plum kernel grits by using response surface methodology

Abstract

In this study, response surface methodology was used to optimize the conditions of hydrothermal treatment and their effect on amygdalin, hydrocyanic acid (HCN), tannin, and protein content of plum kernels grits. The conditions examined were soaking times ranging from 6 to 18 h and soaking temperatures from 25 to 45°C, which caused a significant decrease in amygdalin, HCN, tannin, and protein content of the plum kernels. The results showed that optimized hydrothermal conditions were soaking temperature of 45°C and soaking time of 9 h, with lower contents of amygdalin (2.89 mg / g), HCN (121.21 mg/kg), tannin (3.72 mg /100 g), and protein content (32.02 g/ 100 g). Under these optimized conditions, the reduction of amygdalin content, HCN content and tannin were 68.72 %, 79.59 %, and 72.64 %, respectively and the protein content was decreased by 10.92 % as compared to the initial amount. The results suggested that the optimized hydrothermal treatment could be an effective tool for neutralizing the toxic effect of anti-nutritional factors and improving the quality of the plum kernel grits.