The proximate composition of pods of rain tree (Samanea saman) was studied. Six hundred grams (600g) of wholesome, cleaned and dried pods were divided into two portions: one portion was ground as whole pod meal while the other portion was deseeded and ground as seedless meal. Then the removed seeds were collected and ground separately as a sample to obtain three samples for the desired raw material analyses, namely whole pod, pulp and seed samples. Anti-nutrient s in the three samples were determined. Triplicate data obtained were subjected to ANOVA using SPSS software of version 21. Mean values and Fisher’s least significant difference (LSD) were determined. LSD was used for the separation of the means at (p≤0.05). The pulp had 19.30% moisture content which was significantly (p≤0.05) higher than the moisture content of whole pod (15.50%) and seed (9.20%). Ash content were whole pod (4.70%), pulp (2.90%) and seed (2.60%); Ether extract of whole pod, pulp and seed were 3.31%, 2.52% and 2.66% respectively. The crude proteins were whole pod (13.21%), pulp (10.98%) and seed (21.55%); crude fibre of the plant were whole pod (15.95%), pulp (6.77%) and seed (8.47%). The whole pod had 47.33% carbohydrate which was significantly (p≤0.05) lower than the carbohydrate of pulp (57.53%) and seed (55.52%).It is recommendable that further research should be conducted for the suitable methods for elimination of anti-nutrients in rain tree pulp so as to encourage its utilization in food processing and consumption.
Keywords: Moisture, Proteins, Ash, Fibre, Carbohydrate, Ether Extract