The effects of cassava variety, fertilizer type and dosage on physical and sensory characteristics of cassava-wheat composite bread

Substitution of wheat flour with high quality cassava flour (HQCF) in bread making is economically important in Nigeria as wheat is mainly imported. Different treatments are applied to cassava used for HQCF production and the effects of such a treatment on cassava-wheat bread quality is scarce in literature. This study was conducted to study the effects of cassava varieties (TME 419, TMS 30572), fertilizer type ((NPK 15-15-15, 20-10-10, 12-12-17) and dosage (150, 300 kg/ha) on physical and sensory characteristics of cassava-wheat composite bread according to General Linear Model (GLM) analysis. According to the results, the independent variables had varying effects on the composite bread quality. While the main effect of fertilizer type was significant for oven spring and crumb moisture content, the interactive effects of fertilizer type and dosage significantly influenced crumb texture and taste. In spite of the significant differences in certain physical and sensory attributes, the overall acceptability of bread samples did not differ significantly. HQCF from cassava variety TMS 30572 showed the best performance in making composite cassava-wheat bread in terms of physical and sensory properties

Effect of drying methods on the sorption isotherms of plantain flour

The demand for plantain flour has increased in recent years due to its health benefits and industrial applications, however, there is dearth of information on the effect of drying methods on the sorption isotherm of plantain flour. In the present study, moisture sorption properties for unripe plantain flour using four drying methods at temperatures 27 °C, 37 °C and 42 °C were determined for water activity 0.10 to 0.80. The data generated were modelled using Peleg, GAB, Oswin, BET and Langmuir. The results revealed that the Equilibrium Moisture Contents decreased with an increase in temperature at all the water activities considered. Also, moisture isotherms of the plantain flour were not significantly (p>0.05) affected by temperature. The coefficient of determination (R2) for the used models ranged from 0.640 and 0.986 and Peleg was the most appropriate for the adsorption isotherm of plantain flour out of all the models. The monolayer moisture content of the flour also showed that all the unripe plantain flours could be stored for longer periods at all the temperatures studied, as their Mo falls within acceptable range for storage

Effect of drying methods on the chemical composition, colour, functional and pasting properties of plantain (Musa parasidiaca) flour

The demand for plantain flour has increased in recent years due to its health benefits and industrial applications and information on the effect of drying methods on the physicochemical and functional characteristics of plantain flour in literature is limited. This present study was conducted to determine the effect of drying methods on the chemical, colour, functional and pasting properties of plantain flour were investigated. The results revealed that drying methods significantly (p<0.05) affected all the parameters studied. The moisture content of the flours ranged between 8.18 – 11.50%, fibre 2.56 – 3.21%, ash 3.00 – 3.30% and carbohydrate 76.18 – 80.49%. The L* of the samples ranged between 95.90 – 96.98, while the peak viscosity ranged between 432.04 - 461.37 RVU, final viscosity 320.40 – 484.58 RVU and pasting temperature 81.25 – 83.20°C across the drying methods used. Bulk density values varied between 0.68 – 0.70g/ml, WAC between 115.5 – 149.8%, OAC between 110.55 – 115.55% and swelling power 31.85 – 3.54%. Determination of suitable drying method is necessary for production of good quality plantain flour and the result suggest that any drying method could be used to produce good quality plantain flour

Determination of Antioxidant Activity, Phenolic Compound, Mineral Contents and Fatty Acid Compositions of Bee Pollen Grains Collected from Different Locations

The objective of the present work was to investigate the influence of locations on bioactive propertiest, phenolic compounds and mineral contents of bee pollens. The oil content of pollen grains changed between 3.50% (Alanya) and 6.85% (Russia-Perm Region). The highest total phenolic content (720 mg/100g) and antioxidant activity values (81.4%) were observed in pollens obtained from the Russia-Perm Region and Alanya districts, respectively. Additionally, the highest carotenoid was found in a pollen sample collected from Karaman (Sarıveliler) (98.6 mg/g). The major phenolic compounds were (+)-catechin (66.75-337.39 mg/100g) and quercetin (61.2-1221.7 mg/100g) in all pollen samples. The pollen samples were observed to be a significant source of potassium (3846-6287 mg/kg), phosphorus (2947-5010 mg/kg), calcium (1022-2424 mg/kg) and sulfur (1744-2397 mg/kg). All of the analysis results were significantly affected by supplying locations. The antioxidant activity values of pollens were found partly similar and varied depending on locations. The content of saturated fatty acid (palmitic) was high (20-30%) in the tested pollen samples but did not exceed the content of linoleic acid