Functional Properties of Full-Fat and Defatted African Elemi (Canarium Schweinfurthii) Flour

Abstract

Flours derived from African elemi (Canarium schweinfurthii) fruit pulp could be another source of fruit flours. However, assessing the functional properties of these flours is a prerequisite for determining their potential use in the food industry. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the functional properties of the full fat and defatted flours of African elemi fruit. The fresh pulp of African elemi fruit (Canarium schweinfurthii) were processed into flour. The flours processed from the fruit were evaluated for their water absorption capacity, bulk density, emulsion capacity and least gelation concentration using standard methods. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the data gathered using the Minitab 21 statistical software. Results showed that the defatted flour had significantly lower bulk density (0.34g/ml) than the full-fat flour (p< 0.05).
improved the water absorption capacity for the full-fat flour from 588.6%. Emulsion capacity (4.17%) and least gelation concentration (5.42%) of the full-fat flours also improved to (45.84%) upon defatting. The results obtained in this study indicate that the fruit flours (full fat and defatted)
have potential applications in food formulations.