Amino acid, fatty acid, and carbohydrate content of Artocarpus altilis (breadfruit).

A study is conducted to determine the amino acid, fatty acid, and carbohydrate content of breadfruit using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC). An HPLC method is used for the determination of amino acids and fatty acids in breadfruit. Representative amino acid samples are derivatized with phenylisothiocianate and the resulting phenylthiocarbamyl derivatives are separated on a reversed-phase column by gradient elution with a 0.05M ammonium acetate buffer and 0.01M ammonium acetate in acetonitrile-methanol-water (44:10:46, v/v). Representative fatty acid samples are derivatized with phenacyl bromide and the resulting fatty acid phenacyl esters are separated on a reversed-phase column by gradient elution with acetonitrile and water. Amino acid and fatty acid derivatives are detected by ultraviolet detection at 254 nm. The analysis of the carbohydrates in breadfruit employs a GC method. Carbohydrates are derivatized using trimethylchlorosilane and hexamethyldisilazane to form trimethylsilyl ethers. Compounds in the samples are separated by the temperature programming of a GC using nitrogen as the carrier gas. Percent recoveries of amino acids, fatty acids, and carbohydrates are 72.5%, 68.2%, and 81.4%, respectively. The starch content of the breadfruit is 15.52 g/100 g fresh weight.