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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of dehulling/soaking on the chemical, functional and anti‐nutritional contents of three varieties of beans. This research work involved comparative study of the underutilized bean species with the commonly consumed beans in Nigeria.

Three species of legumes were used for this study. The cowpea seeds were divided into two parts. One part was milled and packaged for raw flour while the other part was dehulled and soaked for 30 min, dried in the oven, milled and packed. For the pigeon pea and African yam beans, the raw beans were milled and packaged while part of the seeds was steamed for 5 min and the coats were removed. The dehulled beans were soaked for 30 min, dried in the oven, milled and packaged. Chemical, functional and anti‐nutritional content were determined on the samples.

Fat content ranged from 0.95 to 1.98 per cent. Ash and crude fibre ranged from 1.98 to 6.13 and 2.41 to 7.90 per cent, respectively. Raw cowpea had the highest calcium content (3.86 per cent) while pigeon pea had higher value in magnesium content (2.01 per cent). Raw African yam beans had the highest iron content (23.44 per cent). Bulk density, swelling index and water‐absorption capacity ranged from 0.53 to 0.92 g/cm³, 2.3 to 5.9 and 0.9 to 2.8 ml H₂O/g, respectively. African yam bean had higher values in oxalate, phytate and tannin contents while cowpea had higher saponin content. Raw flour of pigeon pea had higher value in trypsin inhibitor.

This work enables us to make use of the underutilized beans. These beans were higher in nutrients than the cowpea used. Processing of these beans will make them useful for human nutrition without imposing any health problem to the consumer. They could also be converted to flour and used in formulating food such as weaning food.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the physico‐chemical properties of African star apple (Chrysophylum albidum) components. African star apples are among the under‐utilized fruits in Nigeria therefore, the four succulent components (peel, pulp, juice and pericarp) of the fruit were analyzed and compared with other known fruits.

African star apples were purchased and divided into two portions. The first portion was washed and the juice was expressed manually into a bottle and covered, while in the second portion, the peel, pulp and the pericarp (mucilage on the seeds) were separated. The physico‐chemical analyses (moisture, total solid, pH, titratable acidity, total sugar, carotenoids, ascorbic acid and total soluble solids) were carried out on the four components.

Moisture content ranged from 53.5 per cent in peel to 86.3 per cent in juice, while the peel had higher total solid and the least was in the juice. The pH of peel was lower than that of other components. The peel had lower titratable acidity (1.2 per cent) and sugar (0.9 Brix) while the juice had higher value (5.4 Brix) in sugar and 15.0 mg/100 g carotenoid. The juice was rich in ascorbic acid (28.5 mg/100 g) followed by the pulp (25.0 mg/100 g). The pulp had higher total soluble solids (24.8 per cent) and the least was in the pericarp (9.8 per cent).

The physico‐chemical properties of the African star apple fruit gave an indication of the usefulness of this fruit in brewing industry especially for wine making and jelly or jam manufacture. Processing of this fruit will curb wastage during its season and make it available in different form.