Veronica M. Dossou¹, Jacob K. Agbenorhevi^1,, Francis Alemawor¹, Ibok Oduro¹

The pulp/arils of ackee (Blighia sapida) were oven/freeze dried, processed into full fat and defatted flours and analyzed for some physicochemical and functional properties. Moisture, crude fat, crude protein, crude fibre, ash and carbohydrate content of the flours ranged from 4.83-7.30%, 21.42-59.54%, 11.54-23.00%, 3.83-4.08%, 8.45-9.05% and 15.13-42.48% db, respectively. Potassium (462.21-968.29 mg/100 g) and zinc (1.99-3.55 mg/100 g) were the most and least abundant minerals, respectively. Functional properties ranged from 24.09 to 39.45% solubility, 11.03 to 23.02% swelling power, 111.75 to 139.57% oil absorption capacity, 4.33 to 5.67% foaming capacity, 76.34 to 84.35% foam stability, 61.67 to 69.17% emulsion capacity and 5.83 to 46.67% emulsion stability. Generally, defatted flours had higher values for proximate composition and functional properties than the full fat flours. Oven dried ackee aril flours had higher emulsion activity and stability suggesting their potential application in foods such as, mayonnaise, yogurt, ice-cream, sausages and processed meats.

Ackee (Blighia sapida), ackee arils, Blighia sapida, physicochemical properties, functional properties, ackee flour, defatted flour