FUNCTIONAL AND NUTRITIONAL PROPERTIES OF TAMARIND (TAMARINDUS-INDICA)KERNEL PROTEIN

Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) is one of the important tree legumes in t ropical and sub-tropical countries. The functional as well as the nutr itional properties of the meal and concentrate from tamarind kernels ( raw and roasted) were determined. The concentrates were obtained by us ing the micellization process of protein isolation. The functional pro perties determined were the nitrogen-solubility index, water-absorptio n capacity, emulsifying capacity, foaming capacity, and foam stability . The nutritional properties estimated included in-vitro protein diges tibility and amino-acid composition. The proteins were also fractionat ed according to their solubility in water, salt solution, ethanol, and sodium hydroxide solution. The in-vitro digestibility was 71.3; the k ernel protein was rich in lysine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, glycin e, and leucine but deficient in sulphur-containing amino acids.