ABSTRACT

A comparative study of the chemical composition of the fruit and seed of Tetrapluera tetraptera was carried out. The results show that the fruit has a high value of crude fibre (26.20±0.2%) than the seed (7.56±1.08%). But the seed has a higher value in carbohydrate (62.95±1.15%) than the fruit (49.53±0.7%). The seed also has a higher value of food energy (383.92±6.84g/cal) than the fruit (265.79±34.52g/cal). The vitamin compositions of both samples were determined and the results show that the seed has higher value of Riboflavin (21.2±0.0Smg/kg) than the fruit (2.5±0.005mg/kg). The results also show a higher value of B-carotene (115.5IU/100g) in the fruit than the seed (65.70IU/100g). Thiamine has the value of about 10.8±0.0Smg/kg in the fruit while in the seed has a lower value of about 9.2±0.05mg/kg. The mineral compositions of the fruit and seed were also determined and the results show that calcium has a higher value in the seed (3.155±0.006%) than the fruit (2.87±0.07%). The fruit has a high value of nitrogen (2.08±0.09) than the seed (1.785±0.002%). In the phytochemical compositions, the results show that the fruit has higher value of flavonoid (8.66±0.08%) than the seed (7.35±0.04%). The fruit also has higher value of alkaloids (4.4±0.02%) than the seed (3.87±0.01%). The value of Tannin (2.28±0.05%) in the seed is higher than the value in the fruit (1.19±0.03%). Result of the heavy metal compositions show that the seed has higher value of iron (1676.0mg/kg) than the fruit (1458.9mg/kg). The result also shows that the seed has higher values of the other heavy metals like Cu, Se, Co and Mn except Zn which is high in the fruit than the seed.