TABLE
OF CONTENT
Title
page i
Certification ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgment
iv
Table
of content vi
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Literature Review 5
1.2 Tiger-Nut as a Plant 11
1.2.1.
Fresh Tiger-Nut 17
1.2.2.
Tiger-Nut Milk 19
1.2.3.
Tiger-Nut Flower 21
1.3 Economic and Nutritional Benefit of 26
Tiger-Nut
1.4 Uses of Oil 32
1.4.1 Use in Medicine and Cosmetic Industry 33
1.5 Storage 34
1.6 Side effect of Eating Tiger-Nut 35
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Materials and Method 36
2.1 Yellow Variety of Tiger-Nut 36
2.2 Proximate Analysis on Tiger-Nut 37
2.2.1 Determination of Moisture content 37
2.2.2
Determination of Ash Content 38
Percentage
2.2.3
Determination of Protein Content 39
Percentage
2.2.4 Determination of Fat Content 41
Percentage
2.2.5
Determination of Fiber Content 43
Percentage
2.2.6 Determination of Crude Fat 44
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Result 47
3.1 Proximate Composition of Tiger Nut 47
Tuber
3.1.1
Moisture content (Percentage 47
3.1.2 Ash content (Percentage) 48
3.1.3 Protein content (Percentage) 49
3.1.4
Fat content (Percentage) 49
3.1.5 Fibre content (Percentage) 49
3.2 Analysis on Fat Extraction 49
3.3. Sterols Composition 51
3.4 Calculation for Crude Fat 51
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Discussion and Recommendation 52
4.1 Conclusion 52
4.2 Reference 54
CHAPTER
ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Tiger nut is a tuber that is grown in the soil. It
has a dimension ranging from 6-10 mm and occurs in different varieties. The
colour is brown and has a sweet flavor when eaten. Tiger nut has been used
extensively mainly for human consumption in Spain (Mason, 2008; Tiger nuts
Traders, 2009). Tiger nuts are prepared and eaten cold as snacks. The milk can
be extracted, treated and bottled. The flour is used to make cakes and biscuits
and the oil is used for cooking (Wise, 2009). In United Kingdom, tiger nut is
superb bait for carp fishing (Wise, 2009).
In Nigeria, the utilization of tiger nut is highly
limited in spite of the fact that tiger nut is cultivated widely in the
Northern part of the country. Tiger nuts are eaten raw mainly as snacks or
fried and eaten mixed with roasted groundnuts (Abaejoh et al., 2006).
Kofi (1990) reported that sweetened tiger nut
extract are bottled and sold in Ghana.
Recently, there is awareness for increased
utilization of tiger nut (Belewu and Abodunrin, 2006; Belewu andBelewu, 2007; Ade-Omowaye
et al., 2008; Ukwuru et al., 2008). Tiger nuts are valued for
their highly nutritious starch content, dietary fibre and carbohydrate
(Umeneand Enebeli, 1997) and are rich in sucrose (17.4-20.0%), fat (25.5%),
protein (8.0%) (Kordyias, 1990; Temple et al., 1990). Tiger nut is also
rich in mineral content such as sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc and
traces of copper (Omode et al.,995; Oladele and Aina, 2007). The dietary
fibre content of tiger nut is effective in the treatment and prevention of diseases
such colon cancer, coronary heart diseases, obesity, diabetes and
gastro-intestinal disorders (Anderson et al., 1994).
Tiger nut tubers are diuretic and can be used as
stimulant and tonic (Chopral et al.1986) and in the treatment of flatulence,
indigestion, diarrhea, dysentery and excessive thirst (Chevalier, 1996). In
addition, tiger nut has been demonstrated to contain higher essential amino
acids than those proposed in the protein standard by FAO/WHO (1995) for satisfying
adult needs for protein (Bosch and Alegna, 2005). Researchers have developed
phyto milk of acceptable quality from tiger nut tubers (Abaejo et al.,
2006; Ukwuru et al., 2008). Possible industrial application of tiger nut
tubers has also been investigated (Oderinde and Tahir, 1988).
Tiger nut tubers can be processed in different ways
to obtain different products. Pak. J. Nutr., 10 (2): 101-105, 2011-102. These
products are of high nutritional values and Collins and Lyne (1979). The
samples were serial economic potentials, hence deserve a greater attention
diluted and an aliquot was plated in duplicate plates offhand it is currently
given. As a crop that is grown widely in plate count agar for bacteria and
potato dextrose agar for Nigeria, its availability is guaranteed. What are
currently moulds. The plates were incubated at 37 C, 24 h and militating
against the utilization of tiger nut is the little 25 C, 3 days for bacteria
and moulds respectively. Awareness of the importance of this plant. The
following Counts were carried out on plates containing 30-300are possible
derivatives of tiger nut: flour, milk, oil, cake, colonies using a colony
counter and expressed as cream cheese, chocolate, biscuits, cookies, etc. The
colony forming unit (cfu).objective of this research was to develop new
products from tigernut tubers in other to increase the utilization of tigernut.
1.1 LITERATURE REVIEW
Tiger
nut (Cyperus esculentus var. sativa) as a plant, its derivatives/uses
and benefits are mainly discussed. The hunt for lesser known and un-exploited
crops, many of which are potentially valuable as human and animal foods has
been on the high side now to retain the equilibrium between population growth
and agricultural productivity, particularly in the tropical and sub-tropical
areas of the world. Tiger nut is an underutilized crop of the family Cyperaceae,
which produces rhizomes from the base and tubers that are somewhat
spherical.
Pollination
is by wind. Young tubers are white, while older tubers are covered by a yellow
outer membrane; they are usually found within six inches of the ground surface.
Vegetative colonies of its plants are often produced from the tubers and their
rhizomes. They are usually preserved by sun drying for about three months
before storage. It can be eaten raw, dried, roasted, or grated and can be
subjected to further processing. Its uses in cooking and as fuel, baking flour,
fish baits; milk in lieu of cow’s milk is outlined. Regarding the plant high
percentage of carbohydrates (mono- and di-), fibre, and oil (especially oleic
acid) and its moderately high level of protein, minerals (calcium, magnesium,
iron and phosphorous), and vitamins C and E makes it a good source of food for
humans and animals. It is a cheap source of nutrition for both the rich and the
poor. The health benefits reflect reduction of low density
lipoprotein-cholesterol, which is good for sports’ men and women and those
intending to lose weight; it is also said to serve as a cure for flatulence and
diarrhea, and as control against heart attacks, thrombosis and colon cancer,
among others. The presence of anti-nutrients like polyphones and tannins can be
eliminated by boiling in water. The tiger nut, though under-utilized, is still
a good food snack for all. There is a need for awareness creation on tiger
nut’s inherent nutritional properties.
The effects
of Cyperus esculentus tuber oil based meal on the growth performance and its
absorption in some selected organs (hearts, kidney, brain and liver) of rats
were investigated.
Twenty five
weaning albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) with an average weight of 24.0 ± 3.4g
were maintained on diets composed of Cyperus esculentus tuber oil meal (Tg
meal) and soybean oil based meal (control) for six weeks. The weights of the
rats were monitored on weekly basis, at the same period of the day and before
being served the (weighing) day’s feed. The organs and carcasses of the rats
were weighed after they were sacrificed and disemboweled, and the chemical
compositions of the carcasses were also determined. There was a significant
increase(p<0.05)in the body weights of rats fed on Tiger nut oil while the
organ to body weight ratio of the rats maintained on of Cyperus esculentus
tuber oil meal compared significantly with the weights of the control animal
(p>0.05). The organs showed the presence of Lauric, Myristic,Palmitic,
Stearic, Oleic and linoleic acid using HPLC. It can be deduced that the oil of
Cyperus esculentus tuber oil meal could
competitively compare with that of soybean oil by increasing thegrowth rate of
rats and in reducing accumulation of lipids in vital organs that can cause Inflammation
or constriction of the cell.
This work analyzed
proximate composition, mineral elements and anti-nutrients in Citrullus
vulgaris (guna) seed. Proximate composition of guna showed by percent dry
matter of moisture, fat/lipid, crude protein, ash, crude fibre, carbohydrate, forum
defatted, defatted and protein concentrates. The mineral elements in mg/100g
include; sodium, calcium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese and chromium, but
chromium was not detected in any of the three samples.
The
anti-nutrients determined were phytate, oxalate and tannin, in undefeated,
defatted and protein concentrate. Tannin was not detected in any of the flours samples.
Thus, ‘guna’ compares with other protein rich foods like soybean, pumpkin,
cowpea and pigeon pea.
Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus var. sativus), an
emergent grass- like plant belonging to the sedge family, is also found to be a
cosmopolitan perennial crop of the same genus as the papyrus plant that is
common in seasonally flooded wetlands . It is widely distributed in the
temperature zones within South Europe as its probable origin, and has become
naturalized in Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Tiger nut is one of the
earliest domesticated crops and in fact, was found in vases and was used to
embalm bodies of the Egyptian Pharaohs.
In Nigeria, tiger nut
is available in fresh, semi-dried and dried form in the markets where it is
sold locally and consumed even uncooked. Tiger nuts are under-utilized due to
lack of information on their nutritional potential. A lot of people eat the
tiger nut without knowing the nutritional benefits and products that can be
obtained from it like tiger nut oil and milk. The purpose of this review was to
bring together some of the data on the uses, health and economic benefits of
the tuber of the tiger nut that is completely unexploited in Nigeria.
1.2 TIGER
NUT AS A PLANT
Tiger nut is a tough
erect fibrous-rooted perennial plant, 1 to 3 ft high, reproducing by seeds and
by many deep, slender rhizomes, which form weak runners above the ground, and
small tubers or nut lets at the tips of underground stems. This native
perennial sedge is ½–2 inches tall and unbranched. The central stem is erect,
3-angled, and mostly covered by the sheaths of the leaves. The leaves tend to
congregate toward the base of the plant. The leaf blades are up to 1½ inches
long and 1/3 inches across; they are light green and glabrous, spreading
outward from the stem. There is a conspicuous channel along the central vein of
each leaf blade, especially the larger ones. The leaf sheaths are whitish
green, closed, and hairless; sometimes they become pale red towards the base of
the plant The central stem terminates in
an umbel or compound umbel of floral spikes; the size and shape of the umbel is
rather variable (on larger plants, it is usually several inches across). Each umbel
has 1-3 sessile spikes and 6-10 non-sessile spikes on straight branches of
varying length. At the base of each umbel or compound umbel of spikelets, there
are several leafy bracts of varying length; the largest bract is usually longer
than the inflorescence. Each floral spike is about 2-3 inches long, consisting
of 4 ranks of spikelets along its central stalk (or rachis). The central stalk
is flattened and narrowly winged. The spikelets are perpendicular to this stalk
and about ½–¾ inches long. The spikelets are yellow to golden brown, narrowly
linear, and flattened in shape; they consist of 10-30 florets and their scales.
The overlapping
scales are slightly spreading along the length of each spikelet; each scale is
2.0–3.0 mm. in length. Each floret has a white tripartite style and yellowish
brown anthers; the tips of the styles are curly. The blooming period occurs
from mid-summer to early fall.
Pollination of the
tiger nut plant is by wind. The florets are replaced by small achenes that are
1.0–1.5 mm. long, oblongoid or oblongoid-obovoid, and flattened. The shallow
root system is fibrous, rhizomatous, and tuberous.
The white rhizomes
have a slightly segmented appearance from the brown margins of their outer
membranes; the rhizomes are connected to small globoid tubers up to ½ inch
across. Young tubers are white, while older tubers are covered by a yellow
outer membrane they are usually found within 6 inches of the ground surface.
Vegetative colonies of plants are often produced from the tubers and their
rhizomes.
The nutlets are
almost smooth at maturity and unevenly globe shaped . High temperatures and low
nitrogen levels increase tuber production and an increased day length (by
lighting) will reduce tuber formation. The tuber epidermis (skin) contains
substances, which inhibit sprouting of tubers; the plant grows best in moist
sandy-loam soils but will grow in the hardest clay, tolerates high soil
moisture and is intolerant to shade [8, 9]. The plant produces small, oblong
tubers in abundance, which are sweet and rich in fat.
It has many other
names like Zulu nut, yellow nut grass, ground almond, and chufa, edible rush and
rush nut. In Nigeria, the Hausas call it “Aya”, Yorubas “imumu”, the igbos
“ofio”, “aki Hausa” in southern Nigeria . Tiger nuts which are incorrectly
called “nuts” or “nutlets,” thus the origin of their common name, are small
about the size of a peanut growing at the rhizome of the plant. Like other
sedges, the plant is most frequently found inhabiting wet marshes and edges of
streams and ponds where it grows in coarse tufts [14]. Tiger nut tubers are
daily ingredients of the diet of many people in North Africa and Spain. In
North Africa, the tubers are consumed in their natural form or after being
soaked in water for some hours. In Spain, the tubers are consumed mainly as a
drink called locally “horchata de chufa” (chufa milk).
This plant was originally
native to the Mediterranean region but its cultivation has now spread to many
warm countries. It is usually sown in April and picked in November. There are
mainly three varieties namely: black, brown and yellow, and only yellow
and brown are readily available in the Nigerian markets. The yellow variety is
preferred to all other varieties because of its inherent properties like its
bigger size, attractive colour and fleshier body. The yellow variety also
yields more milk, contains lower fat and higher protein and less
anti-nutritional factors especially polyphones
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