ABSTRACT
Drying of food is an ancient practice that has been adopted to preserve foods beyond their natural shelf life. It has been adopted by the food industry as a means of food processing for years now however, with this process comes a lot of effects on the properties (nutritional, chemical and physical) of the food that are subjected to it.
This research was carried out to determine the effects of drying temperatures on the food properties of tigernut. Fresh tigernuts were tested for their properties and then subjected to drying at temperatures of 400C, 800C, 1000C and 1200C. The properties of the dried nuts were analysed and results were collected.
The results gotten show that tigernuts are a good source of energy and that it contains several minerals, vitamins and macronutrients such as proteins, carbohydrate and fats. It was also found that these components were affected by drying. As drying temperatures increased, there was a significant increase or decrease in some of these components. Minerals were not depleted during drying, given the temperature range. However, the vitamin tested for, experienced depletion as temperatures increased; with this in mind, several formulations could be prepared based on the effects of processing temperatures on tigernuts as observed.
