Effect of Cooking Methods on the Nutrient, Phytochemical and Anti-Nutrient Composition of Raw Bread Fruit (Artocarpus communis) Pulp

Abstract

The study evaluated the chemical composition of raw breadfruit (Artocarpus communis) pulp as affected by boiling, steaming and roasting. Fresh ripe fruits were harvested, prepared and subjected to standard chemical analysis for nutrients, anti-nutrients and phytochemicals. Data was analyzed using means and standard deviation while Duncan’s Studentized New Multiple Range Test was used to separate the means. Cooking losses were observed except for moisture that increased from 57.34% in the raw sample to 62.42 and 60.62% in the boiled and steamed samples, respectively, fibre increased from 0.41% in the raw to 0.66% in the roasted sample, carbohydrate increased from 38.32% in the raw sample to 53.93% in the roasted sample. All the vitamins and phytochemicals analysed were negatively affected by cooking except for flavonoids. Mineral losses were also observed in the boiled, steamed and roasted samples except for zinc. The three cooking methods reduced the anti-nutrients concentration of the fruit with boiling as the most effective method. Based on the result, steaming of raw bread fruit pulp should be encouraged over the traditional cooking method (boiling) for better nutrient retention.