Chemical and functional characterization of Gum karaya (Sterculia urens L.) seed meal

Chemical and functional characterization of the meal of Gum karaya (Sterculia urens) whole and dehulled-defatted seed were investigated. Dehulled-defatted seed meal (DDSM) contained 40.7% of protein as compared to 20.4% in the whole seed meal (WSM). Essential minerals of Ca 39.5, Fe 4.4, K 9.6 and P 995 mg/100 g were found in DDSM. A solid to solvent ratio 1: 40 and extraction time of 60 min was optimum. The highest protein solubility (93.97%) was observed at pH 12 and the lowest (26.41%) protein solubility at pH 6. The solubility of protein was enhanced in the presence of 0.1 M and 0.5 M NaCl between pH rang of 2-12. The protein precipitation from an alkaline extract of pH 10 was maximum (81%) at pH 6. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis shows that 14 bands of SDS soluble protein subunits were observed in WSM and DDSM. A higher buffer capacity of the meal was observed in the acid medium than in alkaline medium. The DDSM had an initial moisture content (IMC) of 5.16%, which equilibrated at 32% RH and moisture content increased sharply at higher humidity (70%) which, indicated that the non-hygroscopic in nature. Water holding capacity and oil holding capacity were 111 and 81, 67 and 114 g/100 g of WSM and DDSM respectively. DDSM showed very good foam capacity (32%) and stability (75%) even after 90 min at room temperature. The emulsification capacity of DDSM was found to be 20 mL/g sample. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.