Abstract

Breadfruit was processed to obtain whole and pulp flours following removal of the core. The flours were evaluated for proximate analysis, physicochemical, functional and pasting characteristics. The results showed that pulp flour exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) higher moisture and protein (11.42 and 5.49%, respectively) but lower crude fibre and carbohydrate contents (5.78 and 79.46%, respectively). The water absorption and oil absorption capacities were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in whole flour (267.4 and 139.9%, respectively) than in pulp (154.7 and 81.62%, respectively). The bulk densities were 0.56 g/ml for the pulp and 0.69 g/ml for whole flour. Swelling power and water absorption capacity generally increased with increasing temperature (60 to 90°C). Whole flour demonstrated a greater ability to absorb more water as temperature increased while pulp showed a higher capacity to swell with increasing temperature. The whole flour showed a significantly higher gelatinization temperature (81.4°C) when compared to the pulp (78.3°C). The values of 2714, 2231 and 4712 cP obtained for the peak viscosity, trough viscosity and final viscosity were significantly higher than corresponding values of 768, 686 and 1182 cP recorded for whole flour.

Key words: Breadfruit, pulp flour, water absorption, swelling capacity, pasting properties.