PHYSICAL AND NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION OF INSTANT KUNUN-ZAKI POWDER OBTAINED BY THREE DRYING METHODS

Effect of drying methods on some physical and nutritional composition of instant kunun-zaki powder were studied. The fresh kunun-zaki was dried in a tray dryer at 45oC for 24 hours, freeze dried for 72 hours and oven dried at 60oC for 24 hours. The powders obtained were reconstituted and analyzed for some of their physical and nutritional composition. The three drying methods drastically reduced the moisture content of the fresh slurry of kunun zaki to produce an instant ‘kunun-zaki’ powders. This was evident in the marked reduction of its weight which was reduced from a moisture content of 85.60% to arrange of 8.87 – 8.95%. The protein, ash, fat, crude fibre and carbohydrate contents increased from 1.75%, ash 0.40%, 1.02%, crude fibre 0.26% and carbohydrate 10.97% respectively to range of 17.22 to 17.93% for protein, 2.98 to 3.15% for ash, 1.14 to 1.18% for fat, 2.18 to2.22% for crude fibre and 67.23 to 67.86% for carbohydrate. There were no significant differences (P lessthan 0.05) between the values of bulk density, titratable acidity, pH and viscosity of the fresh and the reconstituted samples. The total soluble solid value for fresh and instant kunun-zaki powder ranged from 3.00 to 15.00oBrix, ascorbic acid ranged from 22.66 to 32.00mg/100ml. Calcium ranging from 2700 - 2873mg/l was the most abundant mineral element followed by potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and sodium, while copper was considerably low. Chemical analysis showed that major nutrients were retained in the instant kunun-zaki powder. Wettability of the instant kunun-zaki powder showed that freeze dried sample dissolved faster within 12 seconds, 28 seconds for the tray dried and 41 seconds for the oven dried samples. The most abundant amino acid was glutamic acid (8.56, 6.97 and 7.88g/100g) followed by leucine (6.23, 4.86 and 5.30g/100g) and aspartic acid (6.14, 5.64 and 5.83g/100g) while methionine (0.62, 0.52, 0.57g/100g) was the least amino acid found in the samples. The most concentrated essential amino acid (EAA) was leucine (4.86-6.23 g/100g protein) followed by phenylalanine (2.95g/100g). The Total Essential Amino Acid (%) ranged from 34.84 - 36.69 %. The values were well above 26% considered to be adequate for ideal protein for children and 11% for adult. Instant kunun-zaki powder can be produced using tray drying at (45°C) and freeze drying methods without adversely affecting its physical and nutritional composition hence they will be appropriate methods of extending the shelf life of kunun zaki, a non alcoholic beverage. Keywords: Instant kunun-zaki, nutritional, amino acid, chemical, physical properties.