Determination of the chemical composition and nutritive contents of tamarindus indica fruit pulp from ukambani districts in Kenya

Abstract

The edible portion of Tamarindus indica fruit ("Ukwaju" - Kiswahili) was analyse<!fur its chemical and nutritional composition. The fruit was sampled from three Ukambani districts. The analysis carried out included moisture content, sulphated ash, Ascorbic acid content, crude protein and minerals namely, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn. The energy contents were determined and total carbohydrates calculated. The results show that the lowest protein protein content was 0.008% for Kavisuni and Makindu) while Mwingi district plus Kambu gave the highest value of 0.02%. This gives a fairly low protein content compared to other indigenous fruits like Adansonia digitata (Baobab) with a value of 2.9%. The fat content was also low, especially for Makueru which has a value of 0.04 % while Mwingi gave 0.44%, which is expected for a fruit apart from avocado that has 22.2g/1OOgof sample. The highest fibre content was given by a sample from Katse (6.75%) while ascorbic content was uniform for the 3 districts (8mg/l 00 sample). The fruit also has had an appreciable high internal energy with Mbitini recording I463kcalg-1 as the highest. Levels of macro - elements such as K, Ca, Mg and Na are high while Fe, Zn. eu and Mn are found in trace amounts. This fruit, therefore, has the potential of providing all nutritive ingredients and can be used as a food supplement.