The Effect of Soaking Treatment on Physicochemical Properties of Kenaf Seeds MH8234

Kenaf seeds are considered to be one of the underutilised biomaterials generates from kenaf industry. These kenaf seeds contain essential nutrients, including dietary fibre, protein, fat, carbohydrate and phytocompounds. Consequently, they have attracted the attention of many researchers. This study aims to determine the effect of soaking treatment on the physicochemical properties of kenaf seeds MH8234. The soaking treatment can give many benefits such as easing the blending process, maximising the yield production of kenaf extract (kenaf seeds milk), improving the kenaf extract’s nutritional values and decreasing the presence of anti-nutritional compounds in the seeds. Twenty grams of kenaf seeds were manually cleaned to eliminate foreign debris and soaked in excessive distilled water. Soaking was carried out for 3, 6 and 12 hours in ambient conditions. The kenaf seeds were soaked before being analysed for size distribution, proximate analysis, water absorption, colour difference and microscopic appearance. Results showed that 12-hour soaking significantly increased seed size, moisture content (16.09%) and crude protein (20.14%), while slightly decreasing crude fat, ash content and total carbohydrates. Water absorption capacity ranged from 46.57% to 81.79%. The colour difference between soaked and unsoaked seeds was notable, shifting from dark brown to light brown. Overall findings suggested that a 12-hour soaking treatment demonstrate the highest water absorption capacity that enhanced seed size, protein content, as well as pleasant colour development, making it suitable for domestic and commercial practice.