World Bank assisted National Agricultural Research Project (NARP) - University of Port Harcourt
Abstract
Of all the species of Dioscorea , Dioscorea alata possesses higher
multiplication ratio and better storability, and requires less capital
and labour to produce than the most common specie, Dioscorea rotundata
. Exploitation of the industrial potential of D. alata by diversifying
its utilisation through the development of novel products will expand
its utilisation. This study therefore investigated the potential of
developing instant poundo yam flour from D. alata. Instant poundo yam
flour was prepared from D. alata by peeling, dicing and immersing yam
tubers in sodium metabisulphite solution (800 ppm for 20 min). The
tubers were thereafter blanched at 70 \ub0C for either 5 or 10 min,
dried in a cabinet dryer at 60 \ub0C for 72 hr, milled and sieved
(600 \ub5m) to obtain two experimental samples of poundo yam flours.
The proximate composition of the flours was determined using standard
methods. Sensory evaluation was conducted to determine the sensory
attributes [colour, flavour, taste, textural quality (strecthability,
adhesiveness, cohesiveness, smoothness) and general acceptability] of
the flours. The two instant poundo yam samples were further compared
with a commercial poundo yam in terms of the sensory attributes. There
was no significant difference (p 640.05) in the proximate
composition of the two experimental instant poundo yam samples but
their textural quality differed significantly (p 640.05). Instant
poundo yam blanched for 10 min recorded higher sensory scores than the
one blanched for 5 min and compared fairly well with the reference
sample. An acceptable instant poundo yam has been developed from D.
alata