ABSTRACT

This study investigated the fatty acid and flavoured profiles of unprocessed and processed African pear (Dacroydes edulis). Matured African pear were subjected to different pretreatment methods: raw, boiled and roasted. The pre-treated African pear were processed into flour and divided into two (2) batches. The first batch were subjected to flavour profile analysis. The second batch of African pear flours were subjected to oil extraction. The extracted oil samples were estimated for their oil yield and analyzed for their fatty acid profiles. The estimated oil yield showed that the roasted African pear had the highest oil yield (4.33 %). followed by raw African pear (36.48 %) while boiled African pear had the least oil yield (32.68 %). Fatty acid profile results showed that the raw, boiled and roasted African pear pulp oil contained 10 fatty acids including myristic acid (C14:0), palmitic acid (C16:0), palmitoleic acid (16.1), stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (C18:l n-9), linoleic acid (C18:2 n6), arachidic acid (C20:0), eicosenoic acid (20:1), eicosedienoic acid (C20:2 n-6) and eicosatrienoic acid (C20:3 n-3).). The raw African pear pulp oil had the lowest Saturated fatty acids (SFAs) (32.02%) while roasted African pear pulp oil recorded the highest value (44.55%). Palmitic acid and stearic acid were the main saturated fatty acids in raw African pear pulp oil while palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid and stearic acid were the main fatty acids in boiled and roasted African pear pulp oil. The highest unsaturated fatty acids content was recorded in raw African pear pulp oil (66.95%) while roasted African pear oil had the lowest unsaturation level of54.93%. Palmitic acid was the most prominent saturated fatty acid while oleic acid (MUFA) was the most prominent unsaturated fatty acid in the oil samples, flavour profile analysis showed that raw African pear flours recorded 17 volatile compounds, boiled African pear flours recorded 20 volatile compounds while roasted African pear flours recorded 29 volatile components. The 9, 12-Octadecadienoic acid was the most prominent flavour compounds in raw African pear pulp flour with a concentration of 30.69%, Squalene was the most prominent in boiled African pear flours with a concentration of 20.19% while Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (15.97%) was the most prominent flavour compounds in roasted African pear flour. Conclusively, roasting pre-treatment had more impact on the oil* yield, fatty acid and flavour profiles of African pear than boiling and should be adopted based on desired outcome.