ABSTRACT

Tomatoes have been the major ingredient in making stew for over 50 years now in Nigeria because of its flavor and general acceptability. Therefore, a research effort has been expanded towards finding alternative fruits that could be utilized in stew making both for commercial and domestic purposes. The general objectives ofthis work were to assess the chemical and organoleptic composition of stews made fi,om tomato and pawpaw pulps. One and half kilogram (1.5kg) of sound pawpaw and tomato fruits were washed and processed into paste separately for making of stew. The proximate, mineral, vitamin and organoleptic properties ofthe pulp and stews were analyzed using standard methods. The moisture contents of yellow pawpaw (PSA) and red pawpaw (PSB) were in the range of (69.80%) and (70.25%) respectively while moisture content oftwo tomatoes varieties used in the study were in the range of (71.61%) and (71.99%) for Cherry (TSA) and Alicante (TSB) respectively. The ash content oftwo pawpaw varieties were recorded as (2.02%) and (2.0%) while that of tomato were (2.17%) and (2.11%) for TSA and TSB species respectively. The carbohydrate value ofpawpaw was (60.50%) and (55.90%) for PSA and PSB respectively while the carbohydrate content oftomato was (42.65%) and (37.27%) for TSA and TSB tomato respectively. Vitamin Bi value for PSA and PSB stew were in the range of 1.27mg/100g and 1.24mg/100g while that ofTSA and TSB stew samples were in the range of 1.69mg/100g and 1.60mg/100g respectively. The Vitamin B2 value fbr PSA and PSB stew samples were in the range of 2.02mg/100g and 2.00mg/100g while that of TSA and TSB were in the range of 1.99mg/100g and 2.00mg/100g respectively. There was no significant increase in the vitamin B2 contents of the two samples fbr the stews. The mineral composition (Ca, K, P, Zn, Mg, Na and Fe) of pawpaw and tomato stew samples showed that the calcium content ofstew samples made with (PSA) and (PSB) were 2.63 mg/lOOg and 2.31 mg/lOOg respectively while that oftomato samples were 3.21 mg/lOOg and 1.21 mg/lOOg fbr (TSA) and (TSB) respectively. The potassium content of the four stew samples showed that PSA and PSB stew samples had 50.33 mg/100g and 51.00 mg/lOOg respectively while that oftomato stew samples were 55.10 mg/100g and 52.10 mg/lOOg respectively. B-carotene content of samples of PSA and red PSB stews were in the range of4.31mg/100g and 4.20mg/l 00g respectively while that oftomato stew samples showed that the Cherry and Alicante tomato stew samples had P-carotene content as 3.05mg/100g and 3.00mg/100g respectively. The sensory scores showed that the stews prepared with pawpaw varieties had the liighest overall general acceptability. The results showed that pawpaw fruits possess acceptable and adequate dietary nutrients if used in maldng stews.