Vol. 6, Issue 1, Part A (2024)

This study evaluated the nutritional qualities in seeds of three varieties of groundnut (SAMNUT-23, SAMNUT-24, and SAMNUT-26) as part of breeding lines undergoing genetic improvement at the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, Nigeria. From the result, the grand mean nutritional composition in groundnut seeds showed that lipid was the highest class of food (48.5%) followed by protein (22.7%). Others are carbohydrate (11.7%), moisture (8.6%) and ash (6.2%) while fibre content was the lowest (2.3%). Result indicated that SAMNUT-26 had the highest lipid (49.67%) and ash content (7.44%). SAMNUT-23 had the highest protein (24.45%) and SAMNUT-24 had the highest carbohydrate (15.94%) and moisture (8.73%), there was no significant difference among the varieties (P>0.05).  Cyanide was not present in the three varieties studied while phytic acid was present as anti-nutrient but in small quantity with insignificant varietal differences (P>0.05). Oxalate content was the highest anti-nutrient obtained and it did not differ significantly among the varieties (p<0.05). Oxalate was 3.3 times higher than phytic acid. Oxalate was highest in SAMNUT-23 (15.0mg/100g) while the lowest amount was found in SAMNUT-26 (14.7mg/100g). Pearson’s correlation showed that Lipid had a negative correlation with oxalate (-0.528*) and phytic acid (-0.706*), which indicates that lipid content suppresses oxalate and phytic acid contents drastically. From these findings, it could be observed that SAMNUT-26 variety appears to be the best variety because it had the highest lipid content and other nutrients but with a small amount of oxalate and phytic acid. There is need to improve the nutrition of groundnut and totally eradicate the anti-nutrients. This study is important to breeders in order to achieve food abundance in the country in terms of quality, quantity and safety.