Effect of drying and frying pre-treatments on nutrient profile, antioxidant capacity, cooking time, and sensory acceptability of easy to cook jackfruit seeds

Abstract

This study aimed to develop an easy-to-cook jackfruit seed product by demonstrating the effect of drying and frying operations on jackfruit seeds. Four different formulations were developed by jackfruit seeds following a two-factor factorial design, with and without soaking (in water) and case hardening (drying and frying) as the variables. Sensory evaluation was conducted for all 4 samples using a 5-point hedonic scale at a 5% significance level, and their cooking times were recorded. Based on the sensory evaluation and cooking time determination results, two soaked samples (dried, soaked jackfruit seed sample and fried, soaked jackfruit seed sample) showed better sensory acceptability over the unsoaked samples. Proximate composition, phytochemical composition, water and oil holding capacities, and colourimetric values were measured for soaked samples. Accordingly, a significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed between the fried and dried jackfruit seed samples concerning ash, fat, crude protein, Ca, Na, Mg, K, P, and total phenolic content, while no such effects (p > 0.05) were observed for moisture content and titratable acidity. The soaking operation significantly reduced the cooking time of jackfruit seeds. The formulation containing dried, soaked jackfruit seeds was the best sensory treatment.