Description
ABSTRACT
Plantain belongs to the family Musaceae and the genues Musa, tree like perennial, 2 – 9 inch tall, with an underground rhizome. plantain products serve as dietary staple in Nigeria were studied for their nutrient composition and contribution to dietary diversification of consumers. In this study, Unripe plantain was purchased from Oje market in Ibadan, Nigeria. Mineral composition of raw, sundried, fermented, boiled and roasted samples were determined using standard methods of analyses of AOAC, atomic absorption spectrophotometric and spectrophotometric methods respectively. The results of analyses revealed that unripe plantain contained 59.4 g moisture, 7.7 g crude protein, 1.5 g ash, 1.4 g crude fibre, 24.4 g carbohydrates, 80 mg sodium, 120 mg potassium, 66.6 mg calcium, 275 mg magnesium, 195 mg phosphorus, 2.53 mg iron, 3.7 mg zinc, and yielded 128.6 kcal of energy/100 g sample. Sun drying, fermentation, boiling and roasting significantly improved the carbohydrate, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus contents of the products (p < 0.05). The low sodium content of the products makes them suitable for the hypertensive, and the low carbohydrate content coupled with relatively high energy make them suitable for consumption by the diabetics. 100 g of plantain products can contribute between 5.9 to 30.2% protein, 7.8 to 16% calcium, 9.2 to 23.3% iron, and 28.5 to 33.7% zinc to percent Recommended Dietary Allowances (%RDAs) of consumers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
APPROVAL PAGE
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
- INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT
- AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT
- PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
- SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
- PROJECT ORGANIZATION
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 OVERVIEW OF PLANTAIN
2.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PLANTAIN
2.3 UNRIPE PLANTAIN
2.4 NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF UNRIPE
2.5 HEALTH BENEFITS OF UNRIPE PLANTAIN
2.6 CULINARY USES PLANTAIN
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS
3.1 SAMPLE COLLECTION AND PREPARATION
3.2 MINERAL ANALYSIS
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
CHAPTER FIVE
- CONCLUSIONS
- RECOMMENDATION
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Plantain (musa spp) are major food crops in the humid and sub-humid parts of Africa and a major source of energy for millions of people in these regions (Asiedu, 2019). They are perennial crops that grow well in a wide range of environments (Nelson et al., 2006), and belong to the family of Musaceae with the genus Musa and have been crops of extraordinary significance to human societies. Presently, they rank as the fourth most important food crop in the world after rice, wheat and maize; and are used as food, beverages, fermentable sugars, medicines, flavourings and cooked foods (Nelson et al., 2006; Phillip et al., 2009).
Plantain plant consists of long, overlapping leafstalks and bears a stem which is 1.22 to 6.10 m high (Oladiji et al., 2010) and produces bunches with fewer but bigger fingers than banana, and are used locally in various forms by humans. They are often regarded as the “cooking bananas” by most people. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The total production of plantains in 1988 was 24.0 million metric tonnes (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2018)), and in Nigeria, plantain production is estimated at about 2.4 million metric tonnes mostly obtained from the Southern state (Folayan and Bifarin, 2011). This accounts for its wide use in diverse ways alongside other foods as staple in Nigeria. Plantain tends to be firmer and lower in sugar content than dessert bananas. Bananas are most often eaten raw, while plantain usually required cooking or other processing, and are used either when green, under-ripe or over-ripe (Oke et al., 1998).
Half-ripe plantain is usually processed into plantain flour by slicing the plantain and sun drying for some days (Ngalani, 1989) and cooked into sticky paste delicacy “Amala ogede” (Yoruba), and “Ebue” (Ogonis) served with vegetable soup. Half-ripe plantain is also boiled, fried, processed into chips (Onyejegbu and Olorunda, 1995), or boiled and pounded to plantain pastry and eaten with soups, sauce or vegetables (Tchango et al., 2019).
Ripe plantain flour has been used in making bread, biscuits and instant flour (Ngalani and Crouzet, 2015). The nutritional qualities and sensory attributes of wheat bread substituted with 15% plantain flour were com- parable to that of whole wheat bread; hence, its adoption was recommended in bread making processes (Olaoye et al., 2006). The Soyamusa, a baby food from plantain flour (60%) was made and used in Nigeria (Ogazi et al., 2011).
In Nigeria, as one of the major staple foods, plantain is processed into various products such as ‘elubo’ (dried half-ripe plantain flour), ‘dodo’ (fried sliced ripe plantain pulp), chips (fried half-ripe pulp) (Akinwumi, 2019); and in addition to yam, it can be pounded to a sticky paste eaten with soup. It can also be processed to food/foodstuffs such as breakfast cereals, baby complementary foods (Folayan and Bifarin, 2011). The International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA, (2005) reported that post- harvest loss of plantain is one of the major threats to the availability of the fruit that is a staple to many Nigerians.
Ihekoronye and Ngoddy (2015) reported that fermentation may impart new colour, flavour, taste, and texture to food products, as well as enhancing the nutritive value and extending the shelf-life of the fermented products.
The current trend in nutrition in meeting consumers’ daily dietary needs is promotion of dietary diversification through locally available foods. However, little is known about the nutrient composition and nutrient retention of processed plantain products. It is therefore the objective of this study to provide information on the nutrient composition and potential contribution of dried, fermented, boiled and roasted plantain to dietary diversity of Nigerian consumers.
1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main aim of this study to carry out the mineral analysis of an unripe plantain. The objectives are:
- To analyze the mineral constituents of an unripe plantain
- To understand the importance of unripe plantain to the health of consumers
- To explore the advantages of an unripe plantain
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will be of great benefit to everyone that laid hand on – it will enlighten them of the mineral composition of an unripe plantain. It will be an eye opener to all readers including the student carrying out this researcher also to the supervisor of this research work, in that it will help them to understand the nutrient composition and nutrient retention of an unripe plantain.
1.5 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The main purpose of this work is to understand the nutrient composition and nutrient retention of an unripe plantain.
1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The scope of this study covers providing information on the nutrient composition and potential contribution of dried, fermented, boiled and roasted plantain to dietary diversity of Nigerian consumers.
1.7 PROJECT ORGANIZATION
The work is organized as follows: chapter one discuses the introductory part of the work, chapter two presents the literature review of the study, chapter three describes the methods applied, chapter four discusses the results of the work, chapter five summarizes the research outcomes and the recommendations.
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
From the analysis, it was observed that there was nearly all minerals present in unripe plantain. Therefore it could be recommended that the peel should be ground into fine powder and use it to fortify plantain pulp flour to increase its nutritional value
