Some Engineering and Chemical Properties of Cooked Bambara Groundnut

The effect of cooking duration on the chemical, physical and thermal properties of bambara groundnut were investigated. The samples were analyzed for chemical composition, physical properties (length, width, and thickness, arithmetic mean, geometric mean, sphericity, surface area and aspect ratio) and thermal properties (specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity). Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means were separated using the Duncan multiple range test at p<0.05. Times required for samples to be cooked were 1, 2 and 3 hours respectively. The results of chemical composition for uncooked and cooked bambara groundnut showed that protein (18.32 21.70%); fat (4.12 – 5.29%); crude fibre (3.15 – 4.34%); ash (1.17 3.13%); moisture content (6.33 – 15.03%) and carbohydrate (54.27 61.34%). Length, width, and thickness of uncooked to cooked bambara groundnut at different time interval were 12.49 to 15.22 mm, 11.46 to 13.67 mm and 10.90 to 12.54 mm, respectively. The arithmetic mean diameter and geometric mean diameter of the sample were 11.62 to 13.81 mm and 11.59 to 13.75 mm respectively. The sphericity, surface area and aspect ratio of the samples varied from 0.89 to 0.93, 423.31 to 595.88 mm and 88.22 to 92.13%, respectively. Thermal conductivity varies from 0.15 to 0.20 W/mk, specific heat capacity varies from 1.298 to 1.5898 kJ/kgK. Thermal diffusivity varies from 1.10x10 -4 to 1.12 x10 -4 m 2 /s. The chemical, physical and thermal properties of bambara groundnut studied were significantly different (p<0.05).