EFFECT OF BOILING ON AMINO ACID COMPOSITION OF JACKFRUIT (Artocarpus heterophyllus) SEED FROM SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

The protein quality of raw and cooked Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) seeds were analyzed by determining their amino acid profiles. Boiling slightly enhanced some amino acids while some reduced. The most abundant amino acid was glutamic acid with values of 12.29 g/100 g and 13.36 g/100 g crude protein in the raw and cooked seeds respectively. The most abundant essential amino acids were arginine which had values of 6.89 g/100 g and 6.97 g/100 g crude protein in the raw and cooked seeds respectively and leucine which had values of 6.28 g/100 g and 6.45 g/100 g crude protein in the raw and cooked seeds respectively. It had a predicted protein efficiency ratio (P-PER) of 2.00 for the raw seeds and 2.06 for the cooked seeds. A. heterophyllus seed had high total sulfur amino acids with respect to cyst(e)ine which had values of 8.09 g/100 g and 7.88 g/100 g crude protein respectively in the raw and cooked seeds respectively. The major limiting amino acid based on provisional amino acid scoring pattern was valine in the raw seeds and lysine in the cooked seeds.