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Sweetness And Nutritional Potentials Of Marantochloa Cuspidata (ROSC) Fruit

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  2012 Dallas, Texas, July 29 - August 1, 2012  121340705.(doi:10.13031/2013.41943)
Authors:   E. U. U Ituen
Keywords:   Keywords: Sweetness potential, nutritional potential, natural sweetener, sucrose, saccharin, Marantochloa cuspidata

Abstract The study of marantochloa cuspidata (Rosc) fruit is in response to the search for natural sweeteners as alternatives to sugar and some other sweeteners. This fruit contains seed or seeds which are enclosed in thin sweet mucilage. The sweetness of the mucilage is of a very high degree. The fruits are borne at the base of the plant, which is a rhizome. The fruits are not common and can be found only in forests. The relative sweetness with sucrose as the reference sweetener, was found to be as high as 400, higher than saccharin with 300. The nutritional contents by proximate analysis showed that the carbohydrate and crude protein contents were high too, being 69.02% and 16.8%, respectively. Metal and non-metal tests also revealed that the sweetener is very safe for human consumption. Marantochloa cuspidata (Rosc) fruit is therefore seen to have high sweetness and nutritional potential.

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