ABSTRACT

African pear (Dacryodes edulis) fruit was dried through different drying methods (sun drying, oven drying, microwave drying and toasting) and was assessed for functional, proximate, mineral, dietary fibre, vitamin compositions, peroxide value and sensory characteristics. The functional properties ranged from 0.71 to 0.75 g/ml bulk density, 3.31 to 5.08 ml/g water absorption capacity, 22.26 to 28.12 ml/g oil absorption capacity, 5.03 to 6.19 ml/g, 117.50 to 124.50 ml/g wettability, 1.01 to 1.18 ml/g solubility index and 62.35 to  70.85 °C gelation temperature. Toasting gave better functional properties. Sun dried samples had the highest fat (12.44 %), protein (13.25 %) and moisture content (10.03 %), while toast dried samples had the highest higher fibre (1.26 %) and carbohydrate (68.28 %) contents.  Microwave dried samples recorded the highest concentration of minerals with respect to calcium (0.03-0.05 mg/100 g), magnesium (0.02-0.03 mg/100 g), iron (0.00-0.01 mg/g), sodium (0.00-0.01 mg/100 g) and potassium (0.06-0.09 mg/100 g) contents. Oven dried samples had the highest total dietary fibre (2.66 %) and insoluble dietary fibre (1.79 %) while sun dried samples had the highest soluble dietary fibre (0.93 %). Sun drying resulted to samples with better vitamin contents; pro-vitamin A (1.06 mg/100 g), vitamin C (8.86 mg/100 g), vitamin E (197.00 mg/100 g) and lowest peroxide value (2.99 meq O2/kg). The various drying methods did not significantly (p<0.05) alter the dryness, texture, aroma and general acceptability of the African pear flour samples while oven dried samples appeared darker in appearance. Conclusively, African pear fruits can be dried using different drying methods with respect to the desired properties of the end product, hence, exhibiting the potential of a viable industrial raw material.