Physical properties of and comparison of fruit quality parameters of Tamarindus indica from home gardens and market

Abstract

Tamarindus indica is widely grown as a subsistence crop for meeting local demands. Tamarind is an economically important multipurpose spice which is grown both as domesticated spices in farmland and as wild in forest lands. Tamarindus indica is a leguminous tree in the family Fabaceae. Tamarind pulp has long been used for many medicinal purposes and continues to be used by many people in Africa, Asia and America. The knowledge about physical properties of any biomaterial is essential to design its equipment for processing, storage, transportation and value addition.

The analysis of physical properties of tamarind pulp which includes length, width, thickness, volume, pulp weight and density was measured for 30 samples. The Standard Deviation (SD) of length, width and thickness of tamarind pulp were found to be 1.69, 0.20, 0.01 and coefficient variation were 17 %, 10.3%, 11.24% respectively. The SD and coefficient of variance for weight of fruit pulp were calculated to be 0.24 and 12.20% respectively. The SD and coefficient of variation for density of fruit pulp were found to be 1.21 and 12.34%. Fruits were collected from home garden and market for comparison of fruit quality parameters. Total soluble solids (TSS), Titratable acidity and ph for fruits collected from home garden were 38.2º Brix, 22.4% and 2.4 ± 0.1 while 33.8º Brix, 21.1% and 2.6± 0.1 were observed in fruits collected from market. Moisture content, ash content, wax content of home garden fruits were 12.80±0.22%, 2.15±0.12%, 1.93±0.52% while 15.41±0.35%, 2.19±0.20%, 2.05% were observed for fruits collected in market. Moisture content and ash content were also high in fruits collected from market. Based on the fruit quality parameters including taste, fruit quality was high in fruits collected from home garden.