Morphological Characterization of Baobab (Adansonia Digitata) Fruit, Pectin and Some Sugars of Baobab Pulp From Different Locations in Sudan

Abstract

The aims of this study were to evaluate morphological characteristic of baobab fruit, extract and determine of pectin and some sugars in baobab fruit pulp. Baobab fruit samples were collected from El Obeid, Umm Ruwaba, Damazin and Nyala. The fruit pulp was obtained by breaking the capsules manually, then the seeds were removed and pulp powder was sieved using appropriate mesh. Length, width, thickness of fruit , weight of pulp, weight of seed, number of seed, weight of red fiber and weight of epicarp of samples were determined. Pectin was extracted using water based extraction method. Glucose, fructose and sucrose were determined by HPLC. The results of physical characterization showed high significant differences (P<0.05) in, morphological characteristics (length, width, weight, weight of pulp, weight of seed, number of seed, weight of red fiber and weight of epicarp) within fruits from the same location and between those from different locations studied. The highest pectin yield (54.99%) was recorded in sample from Damazin followed by Umm Ruwaba (46.65%), El Obeid (43.93%) and Nyala (40.75%). Glucose content ranged between 1.32-5.32 mg/100g, while fructose and sucrose ranges were 2.33-5.07mg/100g and 13.00-19.44mg/100g, respectively. Moreover, this study exposed high significant variation of physical characteristics, pectin and sugars profile between fruits from different locations was observed. The finding suggests that Sudanese baobab fruit pulp is rich in pectin and could be a potential thickener of beverages, gelling and emulsifying agents and could stimulate growth of beneficial organisms and may be useful as functional food ingredient