Evaluation Of Food Potentials Of Tiger Nut Tubers And Its Product

ABSTRACT The food potentials of tigernut tubers (Cyperus esculentus) locally know as “aki awusa” in Igbo, ”aya” in Hausa and “ofio” in Yoruba were evaluated. The proximate composition of 100g of raw and processed tigernuts showed that moisture content of tigernuts ranged from 4.19 – 51.93 %, crude protein 2.61 – 10.12 %, ash 0.70 – 1.77 %, crude fibre 7.48 – 13.97 %, crude fat 10.79 – 32.06 %, and carbohydrate 22.73 – 56.85 %. Energy values ranged from 232.31- 487.15 Kcal. Tigernuts contain significant amounts of Mg (95.32 -140.96 mg), K (106.44 – 427.92 mg), P (121.78 – 195.95 mg), Fe (1.60 –…