Effects of Different Processing Methods on Proximate Composition of Mucuna Pruriens

The effects of different processing methods on proximate composition of Mucuna pruriens seeds was investigated. The Mucuna seeds were sorted, cleaned and processed into raw, boiled, fermented and toasted. Processed Mucuna seed was dried and ground with Kenwood food blender, the powdered sample was kept in a refrigerator at –40C prior to use. The powdered sample were analyzed for proximate composition using standard analytical methods. All data obtained were carried out in triplicates and subjected to analysis of variance and Duncan Multiple Range Test was used to separate the means. The proximate composition of the samples showed that the Mucuna pruriens seeds had a range of moisture, 8.62-13.01%, ash content, 4.15-6.47%, crude fibre, 2.24-3.92%, crude protein, 29.19-32.28%, crude fat, 2.74-4.87% and carbohydrate, 42.06-53.47% respectively. , the raw seeds had the highest values of moisture content, ash contents, crude fat and carbonhydrate (13.01±0.14, 6.47±0.24, 4.87±0.56 and 53.47±1.48 respectively). Different processed technique significantly (p˂0.05) increased the crude protein content of the Mucuna seeds samples from 29.19±0.14 to 32.28±0.24 for raw seed and Boiled seed. There was no significant (p˃0.05) difference between raw mucuna seed and fermented mucuna seed. Considering the crude fibre the raw seed had the highest value 3.92% while the fermented had the least (2.83%), in term of crude fat, the boiled seed had the highest, (4.87%) while the fermented had the least (2.74%). The study recommends that the seeds, when properly processed, have high nutritional values that can be exploited and considered as an alternative source of nutrients to reduce malnutrition among economically weaker categories of people in the developing countries