| Peer-Reviewed

Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties

Received: 27 October 2014     Accepted: 4 November 2014     Published: 10 November 2014
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

The limited information on the health and nutritional benefits of edible arils of the ackee (Blighia sapida) tree makes it underutilized in West Africa. This study was to investigate the nutrient content, total phenols, antioxidant activity and phytochemical constituents of freeze and oven dried ackee arils. Phytochemical analysis was done using standard protocol whereas antioxidant activity and total phenol content was determined using the DPPH and Folin-Ciocalteau methods, respectively. The minerals content was determined by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The moisture, crude fat, crude protein, crude fibre, ash, carbohydrate and energy content were in the range of 4.83-5.20%, 51.60-56.66%, 10.94-11.67%, 3.63-3.88%, 8.01-8.56%, 14.41-20.62% and 590.67-614.26 kcal/100g, respectively. The ackee arils also contained appreciable minerals (Ca, P, Mg, Na, K and Zn) with K (425.10-475.71 mg/100g) being the highest while Zn (1.95-2.08 mg/100g) was the least mineral. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, saponins and glycosides in the arils. The total phenolic content was 5235.04±103.9 and 5175.38±178.46 mg GAE/100g in oven-dried and freeze-dried samples, respectively. The vitamin C content was 29.6 and 35.7 mg/100 g whereas antioxidant activity was 66.0 and 29.4 % DPPH inhibition (with trolox equivalence of 91.0±9.4 and 40.6±0.6 µM TE/g) in the oven and freeze dried ackee arils, respectively. Drying method had effect on the phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of the ackee flour sample. The findings suggest that ackee aril had considerable total phenols content and antioxidant activity, which implies that the fruit aril has the potential for application in food systems to maintain food quality.

Published in International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17
Page(s) 534-537
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Ackee, Ackee Arils, Freeze Dried, Oven Dried, Nutrients, Antioxidants, Phytochemicals

References
[1] Oyeleke, G.O., Oyetade, O.A., Afolabi F. & Adegoke, B.M. (2013). Nutrients, antinutrients and physicochemical compositions of blighia sapida pulp and pulp oil (ackee apple). Journal of Applied Chemistry, 4(1), 05 - 08.
[2] Ekué, M .R. M., Sinsin, B., Eyog-Matig, O. & Finkeldey, R. (2010). Uses, traditional management, perception of variation and preferences in ackee (Blighia sapida K.D. Koenig) fruit traits in Benin: Implications for domestication and conservation. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 6(12), 1-14.
[3] Akintayo E. T., Adebayo E. A. & Arogunde, L. A. (2002). Assessment of dietary exposure to the natural toxin hypoglycin in ackee (Blighia sapida) by Jamaicans. Food Research International, 37, 833-838.
[4] Howélé, O., Bobelé, N., Théodor, D. & Séraphi, K. C. (2010). Nutritional composition studies of sun dried Blighia sapida (K. Koenig) aril from Côte d’Ivoire. Journal of Applied Biosciences 32, 1989-1994.
[5] Saidu, A. N., Mann, A. and Onuegbu, C. D. (2012), Phytochemical Screening and Hypoglycemic Effect of Aqueous Blighia sapida Root Bark Extract on Normoglycemic Albino Rats, British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 2(2): 89 - 97.
[6] [6] Tiwari, P., Kumar, B., Kaur, M., Kaur G, Kaur H: Phytochemical screening and extraction: a Review. Internationale Pharmaceutica Sciencia 2011, 1:98-106
[7] Gowri, S. S. and Vasantha, K. (2010). Phytochemical Screening and Antibacterial Activity of Syzygiumcumini (L.) (Myrtaceae) Leaves Extracts. International Journal of Pharm Tech Research, Vol.2, No.2, pp 1569-1573, ISSN: 0974-4304.
[8] Singleton, V. L. and Rossi J. A. (1965). Colorimetry of total phenolics with phosphomolybdic-phosphotungstic acid reagents. Am J EnolVitic 16:144-158.
[9] Benderitter M., Maupoil V., Vergely C., Dalloz F., Briot F. and Rochettel (1998). Studiesby Electron Paramagnetic Resonance of the Importance of Iron in the Hydroxyl Scavenging Properties of Ascorbic Acid in Plasma; Effects of Iron Chelators.Fundamentals Clin.Pharmacol. Volume12, pp 540-516.
[10] Boyer Jeanelle and Liu Rui Hai, (2004). Apple phytochemicals and their health benefits. Nutrition Journal, 3:5 doi:10.1186/1475-2891-3-5.
[11] Sarker, S.D. and Nahar, L. (2007). Chemistry for Pharmacy Students General, Organic and Natural Product Chemistry. England: John Wiley and Sons. pp 283-359.
[12] Hamzah, R. U., Egwim, E. C., Kabiru, A. Y. and Muazu, M. B. (2013). Phytochemical and in vitro antioxidant properties of the methanolic extract of fruits of Blighia sapida, Vitellaria paradoxa and Vitex doniana. Oxidants and Antioxidants in Medical Science, 2(3), 217-223
[13] John-Dewole, O. O. and Popoola, O. O. (2013).Chemical, Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Screening of Extracts of B. sapida for Agricultural and Medicinal Relevance. Nature and science, vol. 11, Issue10, p12-17, 6.
[14] Fellows, P. J. (2000). Food processing technology; principles and practice, 2nd edn. Woodhead Publishing in Food Science and Technology. pp 238
[15] Kaur, C. and Kapoor H. C. (2002). Antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of some Asian vegetables. International Journal of Food Science and Technology 37, 153-161.
[16] Horax, R., Hettiarachchy, N. and Islam S. (2005). Total Phenolic Contents and Phenolic AcidConstituents in 4 Varieties of Bitter Melons (Momordica charantia) and Antioxidant Activities of their Extracts. Journal of Food Science C275. Vol. 70
[17] Tlili N, Khaldi A, Triki .S and Munné-Bosch S. (2010). Phenolic Compounds and Vitamin Antioxidants of Caper (Capparis spinosa).Plant Foods Hum Nut; 65:260–265.
[18] Uddin, S. N., Akond, M. A., Mubassara, S. and Yesmin M. N. (2008). Antioxidant and Antibacterial activities of Trema cannabina. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 3:105108.
[19] Jayasri, M. A., Mathew, L. and Radha, A. (2009). A report on the antioxidant activities of leaves and rhizomes of Costus pictus D. Don. International Journal of Integrative Biology.5(1):20-26.
[20] Atolani, O., Olatunji, G. A. & Fabiyi, O. A. (2009). Blighia Sapida: The plant and its hypoglycins: an overview. Journal of Scientific Research, XXXIX (2): 15-25
[21] Belitz, H.-D., Grosch, W. and Schieberle, P. (2009). Food Chemistry, 4th revised and extended. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. pp 404-407,417.
[22] FAO/WHO (2001). Food and Nutrition Division, FAO, Rome. Report of a joint FAO/WHO expert consultation Bangkok, Thailand Expert Consultationon Human Vitamin and Mineral Requirements. Chapter 6, Page 75-81
[23] Brody, T. (1999). Nutrition Biochemistry. 2nd Edition. Academic press, San Diego – California. Pp 617-620
[24] Shahidi, F. and Naczk, M. (2004). Phenolics in Food and Nutraceuticals, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. pp. 489–490.
[25] Scalbert, A. and Williamson, G. (2000). Dietary intake and bioavailability of polyphenols. Journal of Nutrition 130, 2073S–2085S.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Veronica M. Dossou, Jacob K. Agbenorhevi, Sussana Combey, Sarah Afi-Koryoe. (2014). Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences, 3(6), 534-537. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Veronica M. Dossou; Jacob K. Agbenorhevi; Sussana Combey; Sarah Afi-Koryoe. Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties. Int. J. Nutr. Food Sci. 2014, 3(6), 534-537. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Veronica M. Dossou, Jacob K. Agbenorhevi, Sussana Combey, Sarah Afi-Koryoe. Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties. Int J Nutr Food Sci. 2014;3(6):534-537. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17,
      author = {Veronica M. Dossou and Jacob K. Agbenorhevi and Sussana Combey and Sarah Afi-Koryoe},
      title = {Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties},
      journal = {International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {6},
      pages = {534-537},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnfs.20140306.17},
      abstract = {The limited information on the health and nutritional benefits of edible arils of the ackee (Blighia sapida) tree makes it underutilized in West Africa. This study was to investigate the nutrient content, total phenols, antioxidant activity and phytochemical constituents of freeze and oven dried ackee arils. Phytochemical analysis was done using standard protocol whereas antioxidant activity and total phenol content was determined using the DPPH and Folin-Ciocalteau methods, respectively. The minerals content was determined by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The moisture, crude fat, crude protein, crude fibre, ash, carbohydrate and energy content were in the range of 4.83-5.20%, 51.60-56.66%, 10.94-11.67%, 3.63-3.88%, 8.01-8.56%, 14.41-20.62% and 590.67-614.26 kcal/100g, respectively. The ackee arils also contained appreciable minerals (Ca, P, Mg, Na, K and Zn) with K (425.10-475.71 mg/100g) being the highest while Zn (1.95-2.08 mg/100g) was the least mineral. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, saponins and glycosides in the arils. The total phenolic content was 5235.04±103.9 and 5175.38±178.46 mg GAE/100g in oven-dried and freeze-dried samples, respectively. The vitamin C content was 29.6 and 35.7 mg/100 g whereas antioxidant activity was 66.0 and 29.4 % DPPH inhibition (with trolox equivalence of 91.0±9.4 and 40.6±0.6 µM TE/g) in the oven and freeze dried ackee arils, respectively. Drying method had effect on the phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of the ackee flour sample. The findings suggest that ackee aril had considerable total phenols content and antioxidant activity, which implies that the fruit aril has the potential for application in food systems to maintain food quality.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Ackee (Blighia sapida) Fruit Arils: Nutritional, Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties
    AU  - Veronica M. Dossou
    AU  - Jacob K. Agbenorhevi
    AU  - Sussana Combey
    AU  - Sarah Afi-Koryoe
    Y1  - 2014/11/10
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17
    T2  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences
    SP  - 534
    EP  - 537
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2327-2716
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20140306.17
    AB  - The limited information on the health and nutritional benefits of edible arils of the ackee (Blighia sapida) tree makes it underutilized in West Africa. This study was to investigate the nutrient content, total phenols, antioxidant activity and phytochemical constituents of freeze and oven dried ackee arils. Phytochemical analysis was done using standard protocol whereas antioxidant activity and total phenol content was determined using the DPPH and Folin-Ciocalteau methods, respectively. The minerals content was determined by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The moisture, crude fat, crude protein, crude fibre, ash, carbohydrate and energy content were in the range of 4.83-5.20%, 51.60-56.66%, 10.94-11.67%, 3.63-3.88%, 8.01-8.56%, 14.41-20.62% and 590.67-614.26 kcal/100g, respectively. The ackee arils also contained appreciable minerals (Ca, P, Mg, Na, K and Zn) with K (425.10-475.71 mg/100g) being the highest while Zn (1.95-2.08 mg/100g) was the least mineral. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, saponins and glycosides in the arils. The total phenolic content was 5235.04±103.9 and 5175.38±178.46 mg GAE/100g in oven-dried and freeze-dried samples, respectively. The vitamin C content was 29.6 and 35.7 mg/100 g whereas antioxidant activity was 66.0 and 29.4 % DPPH inhibition (with trolox equivalence of 91.0±9.4 and 40.6±0.6 µM TE/g) in the oven and freeze dried ackee arils, respectively. Drying method had effect on the phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of the ackee flour sample. The findings suggest that ackee aril had considerable total phenols content and antioxidant activity, which implies that the fruit aril has the potential for application in food systems to maintain food quality.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Sections