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Chemical Composition and Starch Hydrolysis of Acacia colei and Acacia tumida Seeds

¹Department of Chemistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. ²CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products, P.O. Box E4008, Kingston, A.C.T. 4008, Australia. ³Corresponding author. E-mail: sadewusi@oauife.edu.ng

Acacia seed is a promising famine food due to its ability to thrive in dry zones of the world. In this study, some chemical compounds of nutritional importance as well as starch hydrolysis in three cultivars of Acacia tumida and A. colei were determined. The crude protein was 20.6–23.0%, while extractable protein was 11.5–17.5%. Total dietary fiber (TDF) (28.5–32.7%) and soluble dietary fiber (SDF) (2.2–5.8%) were higher than values reported for most legumes. Reducing sugar range was 31.0–54.5 mg/g, while total sugar range was 137–161 mg/g. The starch content of the seed was 25.6–32.3%. The samples did not contain any alkaloid but did contain saponins. Phytate and trypsin inhibitor contents were low; oxalate was fairly high (2.2–2.6 g/100 g), but tannin was on the high side 66.0–86.7 mg/g) compared with legumes. In vitro starch digestibility was highest in A. tumida (III). Using a first-order kinetic equation, A. colei showed the highest initial rate of starch hydrolysis (t_1/2 = 411.56 and 1,893.4 min), followed by A. tumida (III) (539.25 and 1,738.1 min); the lowest vales were for A. tumida (II) (1,764.99 and 4,249.8 min) for both methods of starch digestion.