AFRICAN BREADFRUIT (TRECULIA AFRICANA) SEED PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS CONSIDERABLE FOR KERNEL CLEANING AND SEED TYPE SELECTION

摘要

The traditional practice of using sharp sand grains as abrasives to de-slime African breadfruit (Treculia africana) seeds leaves their kernels with traces of these contaminants. Some physical dimensions of the seed, its kernel and hull were determined using two major varieties: var. africana and var. inversa. The fruit head of var. africana was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) heavier and bulkier but contained less number of edible seeds in the pulp than var. inversa. It showed a fractional porosity of 0.309 compared to significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher porosity (0.697) shown in var. inversa. The seed and kernel of var. africana were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) shorter, thicker and wider by 6.54 and 9.42; 2.00 and 2.04; and 10.38 and 16.55%, respectively, than var. inversa. Seed, kernel and hull densities of var. africana were 1.076, 0.984 and 0.072 (g/cm3) while those of var. inversa were 0.883, 0.834 and 0.032 (g/cm3), respectively. The hull contributed 0.19–8.12% to the difference between the seed and kernel shape in var. africana and 2.09–12.26% in var. inversa. The aspect ratio of var. africana seed (59–60) showed that it will behave more closely like a sphere on oscillating surface than var. inversa (44–59).