IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development

RESEARCH JOURNAL OF PURE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (RJPST )

E-ISSN 2579-0536
P-ISSN 2695-2696
VOL. 5 NO. 1 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56201/rjpst.v5.no2.2022.pg1.12

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Determination of the Nutrient Quality of Pulp and Seed of Long Shape Variety of Persea americana (mill) and their Associated Fungal Flora

Wekhe E. O., Chuku E. C., Okogbule F. N. C. and Dappa J. B.

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Abstract

The research on the determination of the nutrient quality of pulp and seed of long shape variety of Avocado pear and their associated fungal flora was carried out in Plant Science and Biotechnology Laboratory, Rivers State University, Portharcourt. Long shape variety of Persea americana was purchased from the fruit garden market in D. line, Portharcourt. The fruit was sent to Food Science and Technology Laboratory for nutrient and antinutrient analysis while while another fuit was kept for mycological studies. Result of proximate analysis revealed the presence of moisture, ash, lipid, carbohydrate, fibre and protein. It was observed that in all the parameters assessed, moisture (70.4 0.17), ash (3.3 ±0.06) and lipid (11.43±0.06) values were higher for the pulp samples except for fibre (4.57±0.06), protein (17.13±0.32) and carbohydrate (61.73±0.20) which were higher in the seed samples. The mineral contents indicated higher value for calcium (26.90±0.00), phosphorus (480.0±0.00), potassium (32.43±0.06) and magnesium (42.00±0.00) in the pulp samples. However, vitamin C (47.80±21.13), chlorophyll (77.03±1.67) and thiamine (6.87±0.11) were available in higher quantities in pulp samples while vitamin A was high in the seed sample. Antinutrient and phytochemical investigations revealed glycoside, oxalate, saponin, tannin, carotenoid, polyphenol, flavonoid and lignin to be present in both the seed and pulp of Peasea americana . Nevertheless, Candida sp. (100%) was the only fungal isolate identified from the long samples and are implicated to cause spoilage. In general, Peasea americana is rich in nutrients beneficial to humans but are also prone to fungal contamination.

keywords:

Pear (Persea americana), variety, nutrient quality and fungal flora

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