Uche Anthony CHIME

Leaf protein concentrate as an alternative protein source was first suggested as a human food in the 1960s (Tripathi et al., 2011) and research to develop a potential product was conducted in the 1960s and 1970s (Gilani and Lee, 2003). Statistics have shown that there is an increasing rate of protein deficiency globally which has continued to intensify with the rapidly increasing global population growth rate, currently at 1.04% (David, 2021). This increase in population has indirectly made the availability of traditional sources of protein scarce, especially in the tropics where population growth rate and malnutrition are more intensified. In livestock production, the provision of adequate feed composition required by farm animals remains a challenge, owing to the inadequacy or unavailability of feed material to maintain livestock. The major protein feed sources such as soybean meal, fishmeal and groundnut cake for monogastric farm animals are all conventional protein sources for farm animals, and the increase in demand for these commodities has led to their increased cost. These protein feed commodities as well serve as potential human food, and due to their limited availability, there is competition for these commodities to be prioritized for human or livestock nutrition (Akaeze et al., 2015)

This study was carried out to determine the yield, physical properties and chemical composition of sweet orange leaf protein concentrates and bagasse extracted using three different methods. Heat coagulation, alum precipitation and acid coagulation methods were used for the extraction of sweet orange leaf protein concentrates. Thereafter, the yield, physical properties and chemical composition were determined. The results obtained showed that the yield obtained via the three methods are 2.675% for acid coagulation, 6.60% for alum precipitation and 7.838% for heat coagulation. The chemical analysis performed on the leaf protein concentrates and bagasse, CP, EE and Ash content from LPC obtained from acid and alum precipitation were statistically the same (p<0.05). The CP and EE of Bagasse (17.48% and 4.50% respectively) were lower (p<0.05) than the CP and EE obtained from all three methods. For the minerals, potassium content from alum precipitation (1351 mg/kg) and heat coagulation (2148 mg/kg) were not significantly different (p<0.05).