Studies on Physicochemical Properties of the Oil, Minerals and Nutritional Composition of Nut of Nut Grass ( Cyperus rotundus )

摘要

The present study was undertaken to investigate the physico chemical properties of the oil, mineral and nutritional composition s of Cyperus rotundus (nut of nut grass) or ?Aya? in Hausa language. The nuts were obtained from Oba?s Market in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. The oil of the nut was extracted to study the physicochemical contents while the whole samples were oven-dried overnight at 40°C and ground into powder with milling machine to evaluate the mineral and nutritional composition s of the nut. The results of the physico chemical properties in (%) obtained from the study showed fatty acid to be 0.62±0.01, acid value of 10.1±0.17; iodine value of 24.15±0.25; peroxide value of 0.65±0.06 and saponification value of 37.71±0.97. Though, manganese, cobalt, zinc and iron were not detected in the sample, the results obtained for copper, magnesium, sodium, calcium and potassium were substantially high. The nutritional contents (%) showed in oil to be 29.48±0.01, crude fibre of 12.63±0.01, ash content of 2.67±0.21 and protein of 9.04±0.00 with carbohydrate content of 21.47±0.83. The results of the analyses showed that the nut of nut grass possessed good physico chemical properties and high values of nutritionally valuable minerals.