Abstract

This study was carried out to determine major nutrient profiles changes of tiger nut plant during its growth period. The plant leaves, roots, tuber moisture, starch, fat and protein were analyzed by oven drying, enzymatic hydrolysis, glucose assay, soxhlet extraction and kjeldahl methods. The results show the moisture content was decreased during its growth cycle but varied with different plant organ. For leaves, the starch content was increased with reducing oil content. For roots, oil content was highest (8%) at the 100th day, and it was gradually decreased (3%) till harvest time with non-significant changes of starch content. For tuber, reducing sugar and protein content was insignificant where the starch and oil content increased significantly but the changes were irregular in the middle growing. For optimum macronutrient yields, it is recommended to harvest the plant at 142nd day for starch. The delayed harvesting may lead to increase in oil content while reducing its total starch contents. For the starch purpose, the harvest time could be around 142 days. However, harvest time could require staying longer in soil.

Key words: Tiger nut, oil, starch, growth cycle, nutrients enrichment.