Onawumi, OOE et al./ Elixir Appl. Chem. 109 (2017) 48056-48058 48056 Introduction Plants are very effective in the treatment of diseases and serve as food. Some seeds offer multiple advantages of providing plant proteins with reduced cost of production, less difficulty of processing and can still be used as a medicinal plant. Hence, all research effort geared towards effective utilization of these inexpensive plants for nutritional, functional properties and applications cannot be over- emphasized. At present development on industrial scale is not being accorded the attention it deserves [1]. This has been attributed to the dearth of information available on their varied processing techniques as linked to their nutritional properties for different end usage and applications. One major impediment militating against their direct usage in food applications for human consumption is the hulls or outer coating [2]. Additionally, the oil content of many of these legumes hinder their applications in food products that could be stored over time, being predisposed to rancidity effect. Hunteria umbellata falls into this category of less recognized and under-exploited seed despite its promising economic value. Hunteria umbellata (Family: Apocynaceae) is a West Africa glabrous tree which is known as Demonuain (French) and Abeere (Yoruba, South West Nigeria). In African traditional medicine, water decoction made from the dry seeds of Hunteria umbellata is highly valued in the local treatment of pain, swellings, infections, gastric ulcer, diabetes mellitus, obesity and management of labour at term [3, 4]. This work reports a comprehensive study on the nutritional and inorganic element composition of the dehulled and whole seed of Hunteria umbellata. Material And Method Fresh and matured Hunteria umbellata seeds were bought at Oja Oba, Isale Osun Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. The seeds were washed properly with distilled water to remove any impurities. The seed were dried for 21days until constant weights was obtained and were divided into two parts; A and B. Sample A was grinded without further treatment while the outer layer of sample B was removed before grinding with a mechanical machine. The two samples were kept in separate air tight container for further analysis. Sample A is regarded as whole Hunteria umbellata seed (WHUS) while sample B is known to be dehulled Hunteria umbellata seed (DHUS). The proximate analyses of the two samples were determined using the method reported by AOAC, [6]. Test for the presence of minerals was carried out after acid digestion. The supernatant was decanted and the liquid was analyzed for the levels of Ca, K, Mg, Mn, Na, and Fe using standard procedures. Sodium and Potassium were determined using a flame photometer. Nitrogen was determined by Kjeldahl method [7] and converted to protein by multiplying by a factor of 6.25. Moisture content of DHUS (9.57%) and WHUS (10.95%) are very close to (11.2%) reported for baobab pulp seed [8] and (9.2%) obtained for calabash whole seed [9]. The moisture content indicates that the seed can be stored for a longer time without spoilage. The ash content of DHUS (3.89%) and WHUS (3.45%) are very close to (3.36%) value obtained for Prunus persica seed [10], 3.70% obtained for calabash seed by [11] and similar to 4.0% reported for calabash whole seed [9]. Tele: E-mail address: robertesther007@gmail.com © 2017 Elixir All rights reserved ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received: 16 January 2017; Received in revised form: 10 August 2017; Accepted: 21 August 2017; Keywords Seed, Dehulled seed, Whole seed, Spectrophotometer, Hunteria umbellate. Comparative study and nutritional assesment of dehulled and whole hunteria umbellata seed Onawumi, OOE 1 , Olagunju EO 2, * and Afolabi SO 2 . 1 Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Ladoke University of Technology, Ogbomoso,Oyo State, Nigeria 2 Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Osun State Polytechnic Iree, Osun State, Nigeria. ABSTRACT The nutritional compositions of Hunteria umbellata were examined in this study. Proximate, mineral and inorganic elements of dehulled Hunteria umbellata seed (DHUS) and whole Hunteria umbellata seed (WHUS) were analyzed. The proximate composition (%) of the DHUS and WHUS seed are as follows; crude protein (13.65) and (9.0), crude fibre (26.79) and (2.74), crude fat (2.87) and (14.97), ash (3.89) and (3.45), moisture (9.57) and (10.95) and carbohydrate (43.23) and (58.88). Hunteria umbellata are good source of macro and micro nutrient (mg/100g) with Potassium (1130) and 1150, Magnesium(180) and (189), Calcium (76) and (78), Sodium (87.5) and (90), Iron (60) and (63), Manganese (5) and (7) also present in appreciable quantities. The result of inorganic element (mg/100g) also revealed in Hunteria umbellata; Nitrogen (7.14) and (2.11), Carbon (52.1) and (68.4), Hydrogen (4.22) and (6.11), Sulphur (2.33) and (2.26) and Oxygen (34.3) and (21.1) respectively. Nitrogen content was determined by micro- Kjeldahl method. Total carbohydrate was calculated by the difference method while mineral analysis was carried out after acid digestion using spectrophotometer and flame photometry. The high value obtained for potassium, carbohydrate, and carbon reveal that Hunteria umbellata seed has potential of serving as supplement for food, source of synthetic and antimicrobial drugs, and traditional herbal medicine. © 2017 Elixir All rights reserved. Elixir Appl. Chem. 109 (2017) 48056-48058 Applied Chemistry Available online at www.elixirpublishers.com (Elixir International Journal)