Evaluation of the Effect of Calcium Carbide as a Ripening Agent on the Nutritional Value and Heavy Metal Content of Banana and Orange
Abstract
This study was carried out to ascertain the effect of Calcium Carbide on the nutritional value and heavy metal content of banana and orange. The parameters were determined using standard Association of Official Analytical Chemist (AOAC) methods. The result showed significant differences (p < 0.05) between the fruits ripened with calcium carbide and the untreated fruits. Untreated fruits contained more fat (0.15, 1.29 %), protein (0.88, 4.9 %) vitamin A (565.33, 282.74 µg/100g), vitamin C (102.07, 43.47 mg/100g), sucrose (42.99, 77.28 %), sodium (50.30, 70.70 ppm) and calcium (111.10, 168 ppm) than the carbide-ripened fruits (fat: 0.08, 1.02 %; protein: 0.29, 2.24 %; vitamin A: 363.10, 142.86 µg/100g; vitamin C: 73.92, 25.07 mg/100g; sucrose: 36.95, 55.15 %; Sodium: 39.55, 59.10ppm and Calcium: 97.35, 155.05 ppm) with Calcium carbide for both orange and banana samples respectively. The moisture (85.25, 44.46 %), ash (0.25, 0.63 %) and fibre content (0.52, 0.09 %) were found to be higher in the carbide-ripened fruits than the untreated fruits (moisture: 84.71, 46.10 %; ash: 0.18, 0.45 %; and fibre: 0.49, 0.07 %) for orange and banana respectively. Meanwhile, carbohydrate had higher concentration in untreated orange fruits (13.61%) than in carbide-ripened orange fruit samples (13.58%), but lower concentration in untreated banana fruit (48.75%) than in carbide-ripened banana fruit samples (50.43 %). The calcium ripened fruits (orange and banana) were found to contain traces of heavy metals (Pb and As) which was not present in the untreated fruits. The study revealed that the usage of Calcium carbide as a ripening agent caused significant reduction in the fruits nutrients and as well introduced heavy metals in them.
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