Use of sensory and physico-chemical parameters to understand consumer perception of attiéké, a fermented cassava product

Background: Cassava breeding research programs focused initially on agronomic performance but in recent years they have con-sidered the processability and the organoleptic properties of the final product, to increase the adoption of new varieties. One important cassava foodstuff is attiéké, a fermented and granular product, so it is necessary to determine criteria used by attiéké processors to select raw cassava and the characteristics leading consumers to like this product. This study assessed the attiéké pro-duction process, the criteria associated with the quality of attiéké, the sensory drivers of consumer acceptance, and their thresholds. Results: The total processing yield of attiéké varied according to the cassava variety and depended primarily on the fermentation-pressing yield. However, it was not correlated either with the peeling yield or with morphological characteristics of cassava roots. The production of a ton of attiéké required about 150 h. Dry matter, organic acids, soluble sugars, total pectin, and the pH of raw material and attiéké varied depending on the cassava variety. Ten discriminating sensory attributes of attiéké were identified. Consumer testing showed that overall liking for attiéké was associated with sourness, texture, and brightness. Acceptable sensory score thresholds were 1.67–2.18 for sour odor, 4.75 to 6.3 for cohesiveness, and 5.4 to 6.3 for ‘mouth feel sensation’. Attiéké dry matter correlated positively with cohesiveness and moldability. Conclusions: Several potential solutions are discussed to improve the adoption of cassava varieties for attiéké production. How-ever, further studies need to be carried out to translate the sensory thresholds of texture attributes into robust instrumental methods because texture is an important attribute of attiéké in addition to sourness

Pachyrhizus ahipa roots and starches: Composition and functional properties related to their food uses

Chemical composition of two accessions (N°11 and Local) of Pachyrhizus ahipa was evaluated and their starches were characterized from a technological and nutritional point of view. Ahipa roots were characterized by their high protein (8-9%) level compared to other roots and tubers. Accession 11 exhibited higher starch content than Local accession. Compared to cassava, ahipa starch showed lower gelatinization temperature, exhibiting accession 11 the lowest value. Ahipa starch digestibility was similar to that of other leguminous plants. Accession 11 showed higher rapidly digestible (RD) and resistant and lower slowly digestible (SD) starch than cassava. Rotational rheological assays indicated that gelatinized ahipa starch suspensions present a pseudoplastic thixotropic behavior and under dynamic assays they behaved as a weak gel. Finally, ahipa can be considered a very good source of starch and might be used as a functional food, contributing to increase the RD and SD fractions.Fil: Doporto, María Cecilia. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Dini, Cecilia. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Viña, Sonia Zulma. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Garcia, Maria Alejandra. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; Argentin