Proximate Composition of Raw and Heat-treated Seriales [Flacourtia jangomas (Lour) Raeusch] Fruit

Abstract

Seriales fruit is an underutilized wild fruit in the Philippines with promising food production potential, however the usual drawback of processing is the change in the composition or properties of the crop or product. Hence, the study aimed to determine and compare the proximate composition of raw and heattreated seriales fruits. Heat-treatment involves blanching, steaming, boiling and microwave-cooking, which were analyzed for its moisture content, ash content, crude fat, crude fiber and crude protein following standard methods. Results revealed that heat-treatment employed cause a significant difference (p<0.05) on proximate composition of the fruit except for ash and crude fat. High moisture content was identified to boiled and steamed fruits, and the lowest was observed in microwave-cooked seriales. Crude protein and fiber were revealed as having increased values in comparison with the raw seriales fruit.