Nutritional, Antioxidant and Physicochemical Properties of Baobab (<i>Adansonia Digitata </i>L) Fruit Pulp from Cameroon

The baobab fruit (<i>Adansonia digitata </i>L.) is one of the tropical fruits found in some countries of sub-Saharan Africa, including Cameroon. Studies of its pulp in other countries have shown that it is rich in nutrients, bioactive compounds and medicinal properties. It is an auspicious tropical fruit although it has been little investigated and exploited in Cameroon. This work aimed to determine the nutritional, antioxidant and physicochemical characteristics of baobab fruit pulp from Cameroon. To achieve this objective, baobab fruits were harvested in the North Region of Cameroon and immediately transported to the laboratory. The nutritional (proximate composition, vitamin C, minerals), antioxidant (Total Phenolic Content, Radical Scavenging Activity of DPPH, Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) using different extracted solvents) and physicochemical (pH, total soluble solids and colour) properties of the pulp were determined using standard reference methods. The characterisation of baobab fruit pulp showed the presence of all macronutrients: protein (3.95 ± 0.00 g/100 g), lipid (12.11 ± 1.02 g/100g), carbohydrate (57.62 ± 0.65 g/100 g), its richness in vitamin C (494.94 ± 69.99 mg/100 g DM), fibre (8.17 ± 1.03 g/100 g), minerals (calcium (333.75 ± 0.01 mg/100 g), magnesium (167.45 ± 0.01 mg/100 g), phosphorus (61.20 ±0.04 mg/100 g), Potassium (2670.05 ± 0.012 mg/100 g)) and phenolic compound (566.46 - 2529.25 mg GAE/100 g). It also exhibited high antioxidant activity (FRAP: 1996.27 - 5861.33 mg FeSO<sub>4</sub>/100 g, DPPH: 49.19 - 98.33% inhibition /100 g and TAC: 8.17 ± 0.18 g AAE/100 g), an acidic pH (3.37 ± 0.00) and total soluble solids of 5.00 ± 0.00 °Brix. The present study shows that baobab fruit pulp from Cameroon has good nutritional and antioxidant properties. The consumption of this pulp would contribute to covering the Recommended Nutrient Intake of several nutrients and to the prevention and management of chronic diseases related to oxidative stress.