African Journal of Food Science Vol. 3(10), pp. 320-320, October,  2009

ISSN 1996-0794 © 2009 Academic Journals  

Short Communication

Studies on the functional properties and the nutritive values of amura plant starch (Tacca involucrata) a wild tropical plant   S. G. Zaku1*, O. C. Aguzue1 , S. A. Thomas1 and J. T. Barminas2   1Chemistry Advance Laboratory, Sheda Science and Technology Complex,  P.M.B.186, Garki, Abuja-FCT, Nigeria. 2Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B.2076, Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria.   *Corresponding author. E -mail: zakusamaila@yahoo.com.   Accepted 01 September, 2009

Abstract

Starch, is a natural biodegradable biopolymer which is in high demand recently for use in many industrial products. However, this has greatly increased the search for more new sources of starch from plants. The plant Tacca involucrata is a wild plant that contains starch which is eaten when the flour is been cooked, usually by the villager or rural dweller in the Northen Nigeria as their food. A new starch was able to be isolated from these Amura tubers which yield 30.23% of starch on dry weight basis. The chemical composition; swelling power, solubility power, water-binding capacity, granular density, ash, moisture, crude protein, total lipid, crude fibre, amylose contents, phosphorus contents were determined. The chemical composition data were 9.15% moisture content, 0.20% ash content, 2.10% crude fibre, 0.39% crude protein, 0.09% total lipid and 98.80 ppm phosphorus. The starch exhibited high water binding capacity, solubility and limited swelling power behavior which were dependent on temperature. Based on the ability of the starch to be easily cooked and form gels, the starch may be a potential hydrocolloid for application in sauces and variety of new food products.

Key words: Tacca involucrata, swelling power, solubilty power, bulk density, water binding capacity.