Comparative Evaluation of Nutritional Composition of African Locust Bean (Parkia biglobosa) Fruits from Two Locations

Abstract

The most logical approach towards the improvement and efficient use of indigenous fruits to supply nutritional requirement for human diet is through the investigation of their nutritional values. This study was carried out to investigate the nutritional value of African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) fruit collected from two different agro-ecological zones. The fruit was separated into outer yellow pulp and inner seed and were analyzed for proximate, vitamins and mineral contents. The result obtained from the study shows that locust bean pulp from rain forest vegetation had the highest value for crude protein (15.34%), crude fibre (19.45%) total ash (4.50%) and dry matter (91.1%). Locust bean pulp from derived savannah vegetation had the highest values in all the vitamin variables except vitamin E (18.07 ig/100g) and â–carotene (11.34 ig/100g). The result of mineral composition shows that locust bean pulp in the rain forest had the highest value in all the variables except Iron (29.85 mg/kg). Locust bean fruit collected from rain forest had the highest proximate and mineral value, while fruit collected from derived savannah had the highest proportion of vitamins. The study has shown that location significantly affects the nutritional composition of locust beans fruit. Keywords : Comparative evaluation, Parkia biglobosa, nutritional value, rain forest, savannah