Influence of Sun and Oven Drying Methods on the Proximate, Phytochemical and Vitamin C Composition of Fermented African Locust Beans (Parkia biglobosa) Powder

This research was carried out to determine some of the nutritional compositions of dried fermented African locust beans powder. Fermented locust bean is generally prone to deterioration and therefore adequate preservation methods are essential to obtain bean powder of good quality. In this study, two drying methods (sun and oven drying) were used to produce fermented dried locust bean which was later milled into powder. The oven-drying experiments were conducted for two air drying temperatures, 45oC and 55oC. The rate of moisture removal was determined by the weight loss which was measured at a 1-hour interval until a constant weight was reached. Proximate, phytochemical and vitamin C contents of the dried powder were analysed and the results showed that oven-dried (55oC) locust bean sample has the lowest moisture content of 4.70% when compared to other samples. However, oven-dried locust bean sample at 45oC had higher values of protein and Vitamin C of 37.05% and 3.03 mg/g respectively. It can be concluded from this study that oven-dried African locust beans powder samples generally retained the nutritional compositions studied better than sun dried samples.