African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 11(71), pp.

13601-13605, 4 September, 2012

Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJB
DOI: 10.5897/AJB11.3046
ISSN 1684–5315 ©2012 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Nutrient composition and contribution of plantain

(Musa paradisiacea) products to dietary diversity of
Nigerian consumers
ADEPOJU, Oladejo Thomas1*, SUNDAY, Barine Edwin1 and FOLARANMI, Olubukola Abidemi2
1
Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
2
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Accepted 17 August, 2012

Some plantain (Musa paradisiacea) products, which serve as dietary staple in Nigeria were studied for
their nutrient composition and contribution to dietary diversification of consumers. Unripe plantain was
purchased from Oje market in Ibadan, Nigeria. Proximate, mineral and vitamin composition of raw,
sundried, fermented, boiled and roasted samples were determined using standard methods of analyses
of AOAC, atomic absorption spectrophotometric and spectrophotometric methods respectively. The
results of analyses revealed that unripe plantain contained 59.4 g moisture, 7.7 g crude protein, 1.5 g
ash, 1.4 g crude fibre, 24.4 g carbohydrates, 80 mg sodium, 120 mg potassium, 66.6 mg calcium, 275 mg
magnesium, 195 mg phosphorus, 2.53 mg iron, 3.7 mg zinc, and yielded 128.6 kcal of energy/100 g
sample. Sun drying, fermentation, boiling and roasting significantly improved the crude lipid, ash,
crude fibre, carbohydrate, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus contents of the
products (p < 0.05). The low sodium content of the products makes them suitable for the hypertensive,
and the low carbohydrate content coupled with relatively high energy make them suitable for
consumption by the diabetics. 100 g of plantain products can contribute between 6.3 to 15.3% energy,
5.9 to 30.2% protein, 7.8 to 16% calcium, 9.2 to 23.3% iron, and 28.5 to 33.7% zinc to percent
Recommended Dietary Allowances (%RDAs) of consumers.

Key words: Nutrient composition, nutrient contribution, plantain, dietary diversity.

INTRODUCTION

Plantain and banana (musa spp) are major food crops in Plantain plant consists of long, overlapping leafstalks
the humid and sub-humid parts of Africa and a major and bears a stem which is 1.22 to 6.10 m high (Oladiji et
source of energy for millions of people in these regions al., 2010) and produces bunches with fewer but bigger
(Asiedu, 1989). They are perennial crops that grow well fingers than banana, and are used locally in various
in a wide range of environments (Nelson et al., 2006), forms by humans. They are often regarded as the
and belong to the family of Musaceae with the genus “cooking bananas”. The total production of plantains in
Musa and have been crops of extraordinary significance 1988 was 24.0 million metric tonnes (Food and
to human societies. Presently, they rank as the fourth Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO,
most important food crop in the world after rice, wheat 1988)), and in Nigeria, plantain production is estimated at
and maize; and are used as food, beverages, fermen- about 2.4 million metric tonnes mostly obtained from the
table sugars, medicines, flavourings and cooked foods Southern state (Folayan and Bifarin, 2011). This
(Nelson et al., 2006; Phillip et al., 2009). accounts for its wide use in diverse ways alongside other
foods as staple in Nigeria. Plantain tends to be firmer and
lower in sugar content than dessert bananas. Bananas
are most often eaten raw, while plantain usually required
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. cooking or other processing, and are used either when
13602 Afr. J. Biotechnol.

green, under-ripe or over-ripe (Oke et al., 1998). sundried for four days.
Half-ripe plantain is usually processed into plantain The second part was divided into two portions and processed
into boiled plantain by cutting each finger of unpeeled fruit into three
flour by slicing the plantain and sun drying for some days pieces and boiled with distilled water at 100°C for 10 min. The
(Ngalani, 1989) and cooked into sticky paste delicacy boiled sample was later oven-dried and labelled as sample 4, while
“Amala ogede” (Yoruba), and “Ebue” (Ogonis) served the second portion was peeled as whole finger of plantain and
with vegetable soup. Half-ripe plantain is also boiled, roasted. The roasted plantain (Boli) was labelled as sample 5. All
fried, processed into chips (Onyejegbu and Olorunda, the dried five samples were milled / blended and analysed for their
1995), or boiled and pounded to plantain pastry and nutrient composition.
eaten with soups, sauce or vegetables (Tchango et al.,
1999). Proximate composition
Ripe plantain flour has been used in making bread,
biscuits and instant flour (Ngalani and Crouzet, 1995). Moisture content of the samples was determined by air oven
method (Gallenkamp, Model OV - 440, England) at 105°C. The
The nutritional qualities and sensory attributes of wheat
crude protein of the samples was determined using micro-Kjeldahl
bread substituted with 15% plantain flour were com- method by digesting 5 g of the sample with conc. H2SO4 and
parable to that of whole wheat bread; hence, its adoption Kjeldahl catalyst in Kjeldahl flask for 3 h. The digest was made up
was recommended in bread making processes (Olaoye to 100 ml and 5ml portion was then pipetted to Kjeldahl apparatus
et al., 2006). The Soyamusa, a baby food from plantain and 5 ml of 40% (w/v) NaOH solution was added. The mixture was
flour (60%) was made and used in Nigeria (Ogazi et al., steam distilled, and the liberated ammonia was collected in 10 ml of
2% boric acid, and titrated against 0.01 M HCl solution. The amount
1991; Idachaba, 1995; Ogazi, 1996). of crude protein was then calculated by multiplying percentage
In Nigeria, as one of the major staple foods, plantain is nitrogen in the digest by 6.25. Crude lipid was determined by
processed into various products such as ‘elubo’ (dried weighing 5 g of dried sample into fat free extraction thimble and
half-ripe plantain flour), ‘dodo’ (fried sliced ripe plantain plugging lightly with cotton wool. The thimble was placed in the
pulp), chips (fried half-ripe pulp) (Akinwumi, 1999); and in Soxhlet extractor fitted up with reflux condenser. The dried sample
addition to yam, it can be pounded to a sticky paste eaten (at 60°C) was then extracted with petroleum ether and the crude
lipid estimated as g/100 g dry weight of sample, and then converted
with soup. It can also be processed to food/foodstuffs to g/100 g fresh sample weight. The ash content was determined by
such as breakfast cereals, baby complementary foods weighing 5g of sample in triplicate and heated in a muffle furnace at
(Folayan and Bifarin, 2011). The International Institute for 550°C for 4 h, cooled to about 100°C in the furnace and then
Tropical Agriculture (IITA, (2005) reported that post- transferred into a dessicator to cool to room temperature, weighed,
harvest loss of plantain is one of the major threats to the and ash calculated as g/100 g original fresh sample. Crude fibre
was determined using the method of Saura-Calixto et al. (1983).
availability of the fruit that is a staple to many Nigerians.
The carbohydrate content was obtained by difference. Gross
Ihekoronye and Ngoddy (1985) reported that fermen- energy of the samples was determined using ballistic bomb
tation may impart new colour, flavour, taste, and texture calorimeter (Manufacturer: Cal 2k – Eco, TUV Rheinland Quality
to food products, as well as enhancing the nutritive value Services (Pty) Limited, South Africa). All determinations were
and extending the shelf-life of the fermented products. carried out in triplicates.
The current trend in nutrition in meeting consumers’
daily dietary needs is promotion of dietary diversification Mineral analysis
through locally available foods. However, little is known
about the nutrient composition and nutrient retention of Potassium and sodium content of the samples were determined by
processed plantain products. It is therefore the objective digesting the ash of the samples with perchloric acid and nitric acid,
of this study to provide information on the nutrient com- and then taking the readings on Jenway digital flame photometer/
spectronic20 (Bonire et al., 1990). Phosphorus was determined by
position and potential contribution of dried, fermented, Vanado-molybdate colorimetric method (Ologhobo and Fetuga,
boiled and roasted plantain to dietary diversity of Nigerian 1983). Calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, and copper
consumers. were determined spectrophotometrically by using Buck 200 atomic
absorption spectrophotometer (Buck Scientific, Norwalk United
Kingdom (UK)) (Essien et al., 1992) and their absorption compared
MATERIALS AND METHODS with absorption of standards of these minerals. Chi square test was
performed on the results obtained with the level of significance set
at p < 0.05.
Sample collection and preparation

Representative sample of matured, half-ripe plantain fruit was

purchased from Oje market in Ibadan. The fruit was divided into two RESULTS
parts and treated as follows to obtain composite samples of
plantain products. One part was peeled and sliced into about 5 mm In Table 1, there was no significant difference between
diameter. The slices were then thoroughly mixed together and the moisture content of the sun-dried and fermented
divided into three portions. One portion was labelled as raw sample
samples, likewise that of raw and boiled sample (p >
(sample 1), another portion was sun-dried for four days and labelled
as sample 2 (Ngalani, 1989), while the third portion was fermented 0.05), though the value for boiled sample was slightly
anaerobically by soaking in distilled water for 48 h and labelled as higher than that of the raw sample. There was a signifi-
sample 3. The fermented sample was drained after 48 h and cant reduction in moisture content of roasted plantain
 Adepoju et al. 13603

Table 1. Proximate composition of raw, sundried, fermented, boiled, and roasted plantain (g/100 g)*.

Sample Raw Sundried Fermented Boiled Roasted plantain

Moisture 59.4 ± 0.02 11.1 ± 0.03 11.2 ± 0.02 62.6 ± 0.03 47.3 ± 1.10
Crude Protein 7.7 ± 0.13 16.9 ± 0.12 3.4 ± 0.16 7.5 ± 0.09 3.3 ± 0.10
Crude Lipid 1.5 ± 0.02 3.9 ± 0.03 1.7 ± 0.01 3.8 ± 0.02 1.0 ± 0.02
Ash 1.4 ± 0.02 1.5 ± 0.01 0.8 ± 0.02 1.3 ± 0.02 2.4 ± 0.03
Crude Fibre 1.4 ± 0.02 3.8 ± 0.03 2.5 ± 0.02 1.5 ± 0.01 1.3 ± 0.02
**Carbohydrates 24.4 ± 0.19 60.2 ± 0.11 78.5 ± 0.15 18.8 ± 0.11 44.8 ± 1.19
Gross Energy (kcal/) 148.6 ± 0.14 350.5 ± 0.28 350.9 ± 0.14 144.4 ± 0.22 169.0 ± 1.00
*n = mean value of three determinations; **found by difference.

compared with the raw and boiled samples (p < 0.05). protein content is characteristic of plant foods especially
Crude protein of sun-dried sample was significantly fruits (Kuhnlein, 1989; Ishola et al., 1990). Drying of
higher than that of raw, fermented, boiled and roasted plantain resulted in significant increase in protein content
samples (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in (Sample 2). This was believed to be due to significant
crude protein content of raw and boiled samples, but their reduction in moisture content of this sample. Fermen-
values were significantly higher than that of fermented tation resulted in significant reduction in crude protein
and roasted samples. content of the fermented sample (Sample 3). This might
There was no significant difference in crude lipid have resulted from utilisation of part of the protein in
content of sun-dried and boiled samples, but their values meeting the fermenting enzymes’ nutrient needs, or in the
were significantly higher than that of raw, fermented and alternative, the plantain protein may be water soluble,
roasted samples (p < 0.05). The crude fibre content of the thereby leaching into fermenting broth. However, there
sun-dried sample was significantly higher than that of was an insignificant loss in crude protein of boiled
other three samples (p < 0.05). The boiled sample was plantain sample (Sample 4) compared with the raw
slightly higher in crude fibre value compared with the raw (Sample 1). This insignificant reduction in crude protein
and roasted samples, but the difference was not statis- content of the boiled sample supported the utilisation of
tically significant (p > 0.05). The carbohydrate content of the protein of sample 3 for nutrient needs by the
fermented sample was significantly higher than that of fermenting microbes. Roasting of plantain resulted in
other samples (p < 0.05). highly significant reduction in protein content of the
Sundried sample was significantly higher in mineral plantain (p < 0.05). This was suggestive of the
content than the rest of the samples, and fermentation, destruction of the protein due to application of heat, as
boiling and roasting resulted in significant reduction in high temperature results in protein denaturation and
almost all the minerals compared with the raw sample (p destruction (Ihekoronye and Ngoddi, 1985).
< 0.05). The crude lipid content of the raw sample was
significantly lower than that of processed products except
the roasted sample (p < 0.05). This was an indication that
DISCUSSION processing improved significantly the crude lipid content
of processed flour, with sundried sample (Sample 2)
The result of proximate composition of raw and pro- having the highest value, closely followed by the boiled
cessed plantain samples (Table 1) is in agreement with sample. This observed increase in crude lipid content
the one in literature (Murray, 2005; Gbolagade et al., might be due to effect of application of heat during
2011). However, the value obtained for crude protein, processing of samples 2 and 4, while in fermented
crude lipid and ash of the fresh plantain sample in this sample no heat was applied. Part of the crude lipid might
study was significantly higher than that reported by Ogazi have burnt off during roasting of the plantain, hence the
(1996) while the carbohydrate content was significantly observed reduction in value.
lower (1.2, 0.2 to 0.5, 0.8, and 35% respectively). This Drying, boiling and roasting brought significant im-
observed difference in nutrient composition might be due provement in ash and crude fibre content of samples 2, 4,
to species and geographic variations. The moisture and 5. Fermentation resulted in reduction in the ash value
content of sundried and fermented samples was very low, but brought a slight increase in crude fibre content
and this was suggestive of their long shelf-life and (sample 3) compared with the raw (sample 1). The
keeping quality. However, their moisture content was amount of crude fibre in the flour samples may influence
slightly higher than that of plantain-soy flour mix (10.65 ± the digestibility of menu or diets prepared from the
0.03 (Abioye et al., 2006). products, and may also help to maintain the normal
The protein content of raw sample flour was low. Low internal distention of the intestinal tract and thus aid
13604 Afr. J. Biotechnol.

Table 2. Mineral composition of Raw, Sundried, Fermented, Boiled, and Roasted plantain (mg/100g Edible portion)*.

Sample Raw Sundried Fermented Boiled Roasted plantain

Sodium 200.0 ± 1.41 245.0 ± 21.21 85.5 ± 2.12 195.0 ± 21.21 55.7 ± 1.15
Potassium 370.0 ± 14.41 380.0 ± 21.21 160.0 ± 14.14 365.0 ± 14.14 270.0 ± 1.00
Calcium 126.5 ± 2.12 140.0 ± 3.50 77.5 ± 2.12 93.0 ± 2.83 160.0 ±10.00
Magnesium 375.0 ± 21.21 405.0 ± 15.36 195.2 ± 12.21 340.0 ± 14.14 350.0 ± 13.61
Iron 2.53 ± 0.03 3.50 ± 0.02 1.38 ± 0.02 2.45 ± 0.04 3.48 ± 0.01
Phosphorus 220.0 ± 21.21 225.0 ± 17.43 165.0 ± 11.21 190.0 ± 14.14 217.0 ± 11.16
Zinc 3.74 ± 0.02 3.66 ± 0.02 3.13 ± 0.01 3.60 ± 0.02 3.70 ± 0.02
Manganese 2.99 ± 0.05 2.74 ± 0.03 2.47 ± 0.02 2.65 ± 0.03 2.80 ± 0.02
Copper 1.66 ± 0.04 1.74 ± 0.02 1.47 ± 0.02 2.20 ± 0.02 1.60 ± 0.01
*n = mean value of three determinations.

Table 3. Contribution of plantain products to % Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs)*.

Energy Protein Calcium Iron Zinc

Sample
(2300) %RDA (56 g) %RDA (1000 mg) %RDA (15 mg) %RDA (11 mg) %RDA
Sundried 350.5 15.2 16.9 30.2 140.0 14.0 3.50 23.3 3.66 33.3
Fermented 350.9 15.3 3.4 6.1 77.5 7.8 1.38 9.2 3.13 28.5
Boiled 144.4 6.3 7.5 13.4 93.0 9.3 2.45 16.3 3.60 32.7
Roasted plantain 169.0 7.3 3.4 5.9 160.0 16.0 3.48 23.2 3.70 33.7
*Source: Wardlaw (1999).

peristaltic movements (Edem et al., 1984). processed foods (Adepoju et al., 2010).
The carbohydrate content of the fermented and Boiling of plantain resulted in significant reduction in its
sundried flour samples were within the values reported by calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, zinc and manga-
Abioye et al. (2006). Sun drying, fermentation and nese content (p < 0.05), while the reduction in sodium
roasting brought a highly significant increase in carbohy- and potassium were not significant (p > 0.05). However,
drate content of the samples, while boiling resulted in there was a significant increase in copper content of
reduction in carbohydrate content (p < 0.05). The boiled sample compared with the other three samples.
reduction in value of carbohydrate (Sample 4) was Roasting resulted in significant reduction in value of most
believed to be due to additional boiling water absorbed by of the minerals except iron, zinc and copper. The low
the sample, as well as loss through leaching of soluble sodium content of the products makes them suitable for
carbohydrates into the boiling water. Processing has the hypertensive, and the low carbohydrate content
been reported to improve carbohydrate availability in a coupled with relatively high energy make them suitable
more digestible form (Paradez-Lopez and Harry, 1989), for consumption by the diabetics. 100g portion of plantain
hence, this explained the significant increase observed in products can contribute between 6.3 to 15.3% energy,
the carbohydrate content of samples 2, 3 and 5. 5.9 to 30.2% protein, 7.8 to 16% calcium, 9.2 to 23.3%
The gross energy content of boiled sample was closely iron, and 28.5 to 33.7% zinc to percent Recommended
related to that of raw sample while the sundried, fer- Dietary Allowances (%RDAs) of consumers (Table 3).
mented and roasted samples were significantly higher (p
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