Improvement of the Nutritional Quality and HCl Extractability of Minerals of Dehulled Sesame Seeds and their Acceptance for Culinary Purpose by Parboiling, Boiling and Roasting

Abstract

The presence of anti-nutrients gives sesame seeds a bitter taste which may further reduce their acceptance for culinary purposes. This study investigated the effect of boiling, parboiling and roasting in improving the nutritional quality and mineral extractability of dehulled sesame seeds and their acceptance in soup preparation. Proximate analysis revealed that the boiled sesame seeds (BSS) exhibited significantly (p<0.05) higher ash (6.21%), crude fiber (8.10%) and moisture (5.20%) contents while roasted sesame seeds (RSS) exhibited the highest protein (30.63%) content. The processing methods were found highly effective in improving the calcium, manganese and magnesium contents of the seed. Parboiled sesame seeds (PSS) exhibited significantly (p<0.05) higher calcium (1515mg/100g) while BSS exhibited significantly (p<0.05) higher manganese (2.27mg/100g) and magnesium (602.05mg/100g) contents. Processing was effective in improving the HCl extractable calcium of the seeds while HCl extractable magnesium decreased upon processing. Processing was also effective in substantially reducing the phytate and oxalate to low levels from 13.47-9.63g/kg and 1.79-0.67mg/kg, respectively. Of the attempted treatments, roasting was the most effective in improving the acceptability of soups prepared from the seeds. Consequently, roasting of sesame seeds may be the best method for use in culinary purposes.