Effects of food processing techniques on the nutrient and anti-nutrient composition of Afzelia africana (akparata)

The thrust of this work was to determine the effects of roasting, boiling, combination of roasting and boiling and soaking on the nutrient and anti-nutrient composition of Afzelia Africana. Two kilograms of Afzelia Africana seeds were purchased from the local market, cleaned and divided into four equal portions for the four treatments. At the end of the treatments, the seeds were sun dried for 24 hours and hammer-milled into fine flours. The proximate, the individual minerals and anti-nutrients of the flours were determined using standard assay methods. Boiling alone caused the highest increases in protein, ash, total dietary fiber, insoluble fiber, iron, calcium and phosphorus as against other treatments. Combination of roasting and boiling reduced moisture to 0.45%, iron (9.13mg), copper to traces, potassium (0.16mg), tannins to traces and least viscosity as against other methods. Soaking decreased protein, moisture, fat, total dietary and soluble fiber, calcium, phosphorus, copper, tannins and viscosity. Roasting alone had advantages over other food processing techniques in food energy, soluble dietary fiber, potassium, viscosity and reduced anti-nutrients. Key Words: Afzelia Africana, food processing, nutrient potentials, soluble dietary fiber Journal of Biomedical Investigation Vol.2(2) 2004: 86-9

Nutrient Composition And Organoleptic Attributes Of Gruel Based On Fermented Cereal, Legume, Tuber And Root Flour

The nutrient composition and organoleptic attributes of gruel based on blends of 24-hour fermented wateryam (WY), cocoyam (CY), plantain (PT), african yam- bean (AYB), cowpea (CP), pigeon pea (PP) and corn (C) flour were examined. A batch of each food-grain was picked clean, sun-dried, hammermilled into flour(40mm mesh screen) and put in polyethylene bag. Root, tuber and plantain were first peeled, sliced, sun-dried and milled into flour(40mm mesh screen) and also put in polyethylene bag. The flour batches were separately put in a container and were subjected to natural fermentation in de-ionized water in the ratio of 1:3 (w/v) at 28 ± 20C for 24 hours as pilot studies indicated that fermenting beyond this period produced off-odour in tuber, root and plantain. The fermented samples were dried at 55 ± 20C in a drought air oven (Gallenkamp, BS Model 250 size 2 UK), hammer milled into fine flour (70mm mesh screen) and stored in a refrigerator( 5 ± 20C) until used for the chemical analysis and production of gruels. The nutrients of the flour were determined by standard methods. The flour was blended in a ratio of 70: 30 to prepare various gruels on protein basis. Legume flour formed 70% of the blends. The C, WY, CY, PT flour formed the other 25, 5, 3 and 2% of the blends, respectively. Corn flour traditionally used to make gruels served as the control. The nutrient levels and organoleptic attributes of the gruels were evaluated using standard methods. The data was statistically analyzed using means, standard error of the means and Duncan’s multiple range test to separate and compare means. Fermentation caused increases in various nutrients. African yam-bean, cowpea, pigeon pea, water-yam and cocoyam flour had increases in protein due to fermentation except for corn and plantain. It increased fat only in AYB, CY and PT. Ash and fibrewere decreased in all the flour samples due to fermentation. The results showed that the gruel samples made from fermented blends contained various proportions of nutrients that ranged from 18.24 - 21.34% protein, 1.80 - 2.61% fat, 1.66 - 2.86% ash and 73.98 - 77.14% carbohydrate. The mineral levels were moderate except for phosphorus and calcium that ranged from 360 - 626mg and 318.20 - 376.60mg, respectively. The CP24C24CY24PT24 blend had the highest nutrients except for fat, carbohydrate and copper as against other test blends. The blend that had the highest nutrients had the highest organoleptic attributes. As judged by the results, the blend that had high food potentials could be used ascomplementary foods.Keywords: Gruel, nutrient composition , fermented blends, organoleptic test, cocoyam, Xanthosoma sagittifolium

Physico-chemical, Energy, Minerals, Vitamins, and Sensory Properties of Wheatbased Biscuit Supplemented with African yam-bean, Cowpea, Pigeon pea, Wateryam, Cocoyam and Plantain flour

Objective: The paper examined the physico-chemical properties, energy, minerals and vitamins and sensory attributes of wheat-based biscuits supplemented with fermented flours. Materials and methods: The food materials were processed into flour and put in a polyethylene bag. The flour batches were subjected to natural fermentation in de-ionized water in the ratio of 1:3 (w/v) at 28 ± 20C for 24 hours. The fermented samples were dried at 55 ± 20C in a drought air oven, hammer milled into fine flour (70mm mesh screen) and stored in a refrigerator until used for the chemical analysis and production of biscuits. The blends were formulated thus: 70% wheat flour and legume, tuber; root and plantain contributed 25, 5, 3 and 2%, respectively. The control sample was 100% wheat flour. The biscuits were analyzed for physical, chemical, vitamin, energy, and sensory attributes using standard techniques Results: The test biscuits contained 14.26 - 16.20% protein, 70.06 -72.26% carbohydrate, 4.76 -6.40% ash, 1.88 - 2.18% fat, 6.10 – 7.02% fibre and 357.56 – 373.28 kilocalories. The mineral contents were moderate except for calcium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium that ranged from (74.20 – 77.10mg, 75.13 - 110.50mg, 170.20 -175.00mg and 720.00 -731.10mg, respectively). The vitamin contents were moderate. The physical properties of biscuit samples were comparable to that of the control except that fermentation decreased the weight and the width of the samples. Sensory evaluation results showed that the biscuits containing plantain were not significantly different (P≥ 0.05) from the 100% wheat flour biscuits. Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that wheat-based biscuits supplemented with other food crops can produce biscuits that are organoleptically acceptable with a higher nutrient density than their 100% wheat biscuit counterparts. Keywords: Physical and sensory qualities, energy and nutrient composition, fermented composite flours, biscuit