Nutritional Composition of Hass Avocado (Perseaamericana Mill) Cultivated in Major Growing Areas in Kenya

Özet

Avocado is an important horticultural crop in Kenya and a key export fruit. The quality of avocado fruit is influenced by numerous environmental factors such as soil composition, elevation, rainfall, temperature, and sunlight exposure, alongside crop husbandry, pos-tharvest handling, and geographical origin. Avocado samples from these regions were analysed for proximate composition, including ash, protein, lipid, fibre and carbohydrates, and fatty acid composition of extracted oils.

 Findings revealed marginal variations across the regions. In terms of weight, samples from Nandi were the highest with 231.85 ± 0. 84g, followed by Kisii (219.52 ±0.59g), Muranga (165.02 ±0.94g) and Nakuru (149.20 ±1.35g), respectively. Moreover, samples from Murang'a recorded the lowest pulp yield (62.28%) and the highest seed proportion (23.08%), while other regions showed an insignificant difference in pulp content (71.33%) and seed (14.48%). The pulp content of Murang'a and Nandi regions exhibited the highest fat content at 68.26±3.18% (dwb) and 64.22±0.93% (dwb), followed by Kisii at 60.84±0.31 % (dwb). Nakuru had the lowest lipid content at 45.91% (dwb). Samples from Kisii had higher ash content (6.79% dwb), those from Murang'a had elevated fibre (4.46% dwb), while samples from Nakuru exhibited higher protein (7.63%dwb) and carbohydrate (36.61% dwb) levels. The fatty acid composition of avocados was in the range of oleic acid 55.1-60%, followed by Palmitic acid 22.1-23.8%, Linoleic was 18.8-21.1%, with saturated/unsaturated ratio in the range of 0.27-0.31, implying healthy fatty acid profiles for human nutrition for all the samples. Generally, the quality of the study samples was comparable to those traded globally in terms of nutrient profile.

Overall, Kenyan Hass avocados meet the required export quality in terms of size (calibre), pulp-to-seed and peel ratio was within acceptable limits, the nutritional composition of avocados and their lipid content is in line with those reported in key avocado-producing and exporting countries.

Keywords: Hass avocado; proximate composition; Fatty Acid profile; lipid quality; Kenya