Proximate and Mineral Composition of Coconut - International Journal ...

Int. J. Pure Appl. Sci. Technol., 13(1) (2012), pp. 57-60

International Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences and Technology ISSN 2229 - 6107 Available online at www.ijopaasat.in Research Paper

Proximate and Mineral Composition of Coconut (Cocos Nucifera) Shell C.J. Ewansiha1,*, J.E. Ebhoaye2, I.O. Asia3, L.O. Ekebafe4 and C. Ehigie5 1

Chemistry Department, College of Education, P.M.B 003, Igueben, Nigeria

2, 3, 5 4

Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria,

Polymer Technology Department, Auchi Polytechnic, P.M.B 13, Auchi, Nigeria

* Corresponding author, e-mail: ([email protected]) (Received: 4-3-11; Accepted: 23-7-12)

Abstract: The proximate analysis and mineral compositions of coconut shell were carried out. The aim was to show the relevance of coconut shell in water and waste treatment among other uses. The results show viz: crude fiber 32.39%, crude fat 2.14%, crude protein, 0.46%, moisture content 10.10%, Ash content 2.28%, carbohydrate 56.63%, while mineral composition or components which were determined using appropriate analytical tools were measured in mg/100g viz: Ca = 16.02, P = 11.64, Mg = 1.22, Na = 0.76, K = 3.30, Fe = 618, Zn = 1.20, Mn = 6.0.

Keywords: Coconut, water, composition, analysis and treatment.

Introduction Coconut (Cocos Nucifera) is an important member of the family, Acecacaae (palm family). It is the only accepted species in the genus cocos(2010) and is a large palm, growing to 30m tall, with pinnate leaves, 4-16m long, pinnae 60-90cm long. Old leave break away clearly, leaving the trunk smooth. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. Unless it is picked, a matured coconut eventually drops from the tree. The fully developed hard shell does not crack easily. The dry and brown coconut may sit underneath the tree for months and appear as if it were dead until one day a green shoot pushes its way out of the shell. For the purpose of this work it is the outer hard shell that is to be used.

Int. J. Pure Appl. Sci. Technol., 13(1) (2012), 57-60.

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Materials and Methods The outer pericap of coconut shell (Cocos nucifera) were collected from Igueben environs, southsouth Nigeria, air dried and grinded into fine powder and were sieved with 2mm mesh pore size. The moisture, ash and other extracts like crude fibre, crude fat, protein etc were then determined using standard methods (AOAOC, 1990). Nitrogen was determined by the micro-kjedahl method (pearson, 1976) and the crude protein was taken as N% x 6.25 (constant factor) where N is equal to Nitrogen content per 100g sample. Total carbohydrate was determined using the phenol-sulphuric acid method (Adeyeye and Foluye, 2004). The crude fibre was obtained by dry ashing of the sample at 550oC dissolved in 10% HCl(25ml) and 5% Lanthanum Chloride (2ml) boiled, filtered and made up to standard volume with distilled water. Na and K were determined by the Jenway P9P7, Flame photometer method. Phosphorus was determined using the spectronic 20 calorimeter by the phosphovando molybdate method (AOAC, 1990) and (Dubois et al, 1956). Ca and Mg were obtained by EDTA method (Ademoroti, 1996), while the heavy metals were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer.

Results and Discussion The proximate analysis and composition of the coconut shell is shown in Table 1. Most of the values are high, analysis showed that soluble carbohydrate had the highest value which indeed gives an indication that it compares favourably with other fast energy giving food stuffs. Hence it can be added to some food content as an additive (Gaman and sherington, 1977). Since carbohydrate has oxygen and hydrogen atoms as constituent elements and in solution, the production of charges such as oxygen and hydrogen ions. The formation of oxygen ion which is negatively charge can attract metallic ions and possibly remove them from aqueous solution (Harold, 1963). The ash content is an indication of the presence of carbon compounds and inorganic components in the form of salts and oxides in the shell of coconut(Usman, 2006). Carbon plays a vital role in the adsorption of substances due to its porous nature which is an indication that powdered carbon form of coconut shell can effectively serve as good adsorbent in the removal of metallic ions, odour, colours and other particulate matter from aqueous medium of water and waste water. The crude fibre content of coconut shell enhances the strength, provides toughness and hardness of the shell (Ihakoronye and Ngoddy, 1985). These also aid the ability of the moving insoluble particles from solution acting as a semi-permeable membrane which traps heavy particles in solution. From Table 2, the values for calcium and phosphorus were lower than the results reported by Adeyeye from Oyenuga’s studies (Adeyeye and Felaye, 2004); where calcium was reported to be 82.0mg/100g and phosphorus 62.0mg/100g. However, this sample showed high iron content of 618.00mg/100g compared to that of Oyenuga’s report of 0.7mg/100g and that of Egbon’s report in Egbon et al, 2006, of 8.47mg/100g. Iron being one of the most abundant metals on earth, it ranked as the 9th most abundant metal (Ademoroti, 1996) and is used in a variety of ways for example, iron (III) chloride is used as a coagulant in the treatment of water and waste water especially in the removal of heavy metals and particles. The mechanism of this reaction is that when in solution it forms the hydroxide for example, Fe(OH)3. This is one possibility for the relevance of shell of coconut as a coagulant in the treatment of water and waste water (Ademoroti, 1983). A study of the treatment of municipal sewage containing some heavy metals were treated with Iron (III) Chloride at pH 4.1 and optimum dosage of 300mg/l shows effective treatment as reported in Jatto et al, 2010. Hence, there is a correlation between this and above report. The other metals present in the shell of coconut in this analysis are Zn and Mn which are also useful in various forms though they could be toxic (harmful) when in large proportion at high concentration.

Conclusion This research work shows that from the proximate composition; carbohydrate has the highest percentage value, followed by crude fibre and moisture content, while Iron (Fe) has the highest value


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followed by calcium and phosphorus in the mineral composition of coconut shell. Coconut shell can be an effective material precursor in water and waste water treatment among other uses.

Table 1: Proximate composition of shell pericap of coconut (mg/100g) Parameter Value(%) Moisture content 10.10±0.01 Ash content 2.28±0.04 Crude fibre 32.39±0.01 Crude fat/oil 2.14±0.03 Protein 0.46±0.03 Carbohydrate 52.63±0.03 Table 2: Mineral composition of coconut shell Mineral Values (mg/100g) P 11.64±0.02 Ca 16.02±0.05 Mg 1.22±0.22 Na 0.76±0.12 K 3.30±0.01 Fe 618.00±0.24 Zn 1.20±0.10 Mn 6.00±0.10

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