Development of Ready-to-Eat Flakes from Sweet Potato (ipomoea batatas), Soyabean (glycine max) and Acha (digitaria exilis) Flour Blends
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Date
2023
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Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University.
Abstract
This study formulated and optimized ready-to-eat (RTE) flakes made from sweet potatoes, soybeans, and acha flour blends. It evaluated the pasting and functional properties of the RTE flakes. The study determined the physicochemical composition and in-vivo nutritional quality assessment of the optimized RTE flakes. It also assessed the sensory and storage properties of the optimized RTE flakes. These were with a view to developing ready-to-eat flakes from composite blends of sweet potato, soybean and acha flour.
The sweet potato roots were peeled, washed and steam-blanched at 85 oC for 3 minutes. Also, soybean was washed, soaked, cooked at 100 oC for 20 minutes and dehulled. The acha grains were winnowed and wet-cleaned. These raw materials were separately dried, milled into flour and blended for production of RTE flakes. A randomized central composite design of the response surface methodology was used for the optimization considering the composite flours as the three independent variables, each at preset range. The dependent variables were some selected chemical, functional, sensory, antioxidant and antinutritional properties. The optimized RTE flakes were analyzed for nutritional and chemical composition. In vivo nutritional quality was assessed through animal feeding experiments using Wistar rats, while sensory evaluation was conducted by a semi-trained panel. These RTE flakes were stored in two packaging materials, high density polyethylene (HDPE) and laminated biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) pouches and subjected to storage studies.
The results showed that optimal RTE flakes formulation developed had a desirability value of 0.917 and consisted of 55.55 g sweet potato, 33.33 g soybean, and 11.11 g acha flour per 100 g. The optimized RTE flakes exhibited notable properties like low moisture content (5.37%), higher protein content (18.06 g/100 g), substantial dietary fibre (20.75 g/100 g), strong antioxidant activity (DPPH- 70.84%), good mineral content (calcium - 314.49 mg/100 g, iron - 13.14 mg/100 g), and significant phenolic content (82.12 mg GAE/g). The flakes also contained beta-carotene (8.47 mg/100 g) and minimal phytate (0.12 g/100 g). The developed flakes compared favourably with casein diet for essential and non-essential amino acids. Results of sensory evaluation indicated that developed RTE flakes were well rated in sensory attributes, though significantly lower than the commercial flakes. The composite flour blends of optimized RTE flakes showed significant variations in functional properties. The developed RTE flakes showed good protein efficiency, biological value, true digestibility, and net protein utilization in experimental rats. There was no recorded mortalities throughout the feeding trials. Haematological and histological studies of rats fed with RTE flakes did not reveal any harmful effect on their health and wellbeing throughout experimental feeding. The study additionally reported the storage stability of the RTE flakes which extended shelf life to 63 days. Accelerated storage investigations indicated Q10 values of 1.55 and 1.31 for HDPE and BOPP pouches with activation energy, Ea values of 33.26 kJ/mol and 20.43 kJ/mol, respectively.
The study concluded that the developed sweet potato-based RTE flakes is safe for consumption and contains significant amount of essential nutrients which will offer a promising alternative to mitigate protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies.
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Jegede, A.A. (2023). Development of ready-to-eat flakes from sweet potato (ipomoea batatas), soyabean (glycine max) and acha (digitaria exilis) flour blends. Department of food science and technology, faculty of technology, Obafemi Awolowo University.