This study investigated some quality attributes of unripe cooking banana (UBF), pigeon pea (PPF), and sweetpotato (SPF) flour blends. Simplex centroid mixture design was used to obtain 17 blends from the flours. The nutrient composition, color, and functional properties of the blends were evaluated using standard methods. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and treatment means were compared using Duncan's multiple range test at 5% probability level. There were significant (p < .05) differences in the nutrient composition, and functional and pasting properties of the blends. The crude protein, crude fiber, ash, foaming capacity, emulsion capacity, and least gelation capacity of the blends increased as the PPF level increased. The blends had Na/K ratio of <1.0. The dispersibility, bulk density, water, and oil absorption capacities of the blends increased as SPF and UBF increased. The peak, setback, and final viscosities increased as UBF and SPF inclusion increased,whereas pasting temperature and time increased as the PPF level increased. The L*, a*, and b* values of the flour blends which were significantly (p < .05) different ranged from 79.58 to 102.71, −0.15 to 2.79, and 13.82 to 23.69, respectively. Cooking banana-pigeon pea-sweetpotato flour blends are desirable for alleviating malnutrition in Nigeria and developing new food formulations.
K E Y W O R D SFunctional properties, nutrient composition, pigeon pea, sweetpotato, unripe cooking banana
| INTRODUCTIONAccording to Noorfarahzihah, Lee, Sharifudin, Mohd-Fadzelly, and Hasmadi (2014), composite flour is defined as a mixture of flours from tubers (e.g. cassava, yam, sweetpotato) and/or legumes (e.g. soybean, pigeon pea, peanut) and/or cereal (e.g. maize, wheat, rice, millet, buckwheat). The use of composite flour has been identified by researchers as possible avenue of producing high-quality nutritious food productsand a means of reducing the huge amount of foreign exchange spent by Nigeria in the importation of wheat flour (Olaoye, Onilude, & Idowu, 2006;Nwosu, 2013;Vaughan, Afolami, Oyekale, & Ayegbokiki, 2014).Basically, banana is an essential source of minerals (iron, zinc, selenium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium), vitamins (A, B1, B2, B6, and C), polyphenols, resistant starch, and antioxidants , 2015). The objective of this study was therefore to determine the nutrient composition, functional, and pasting properties of flour blends from unripe cooking banana, pigeon pea, and sweet potato.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS
| Materials
| Production of unripe banana flourThe procedure described by Daramola and Osanyinlusi (2006) in
| Production of pigeon pea flourThe method described by Fasoyiro et al. (2010) seeds were cleaned, sorted, and cooked in boiling water for 20 min.The seed coats were dehulled using a Philips blender, drained, and dried in the Genlab Cabinet dryer at 60°C for 48 hr. The dried pigeon pea seeds were allowed to cool at room temperature, and milled and packaged, as described for banana flour.
| Production of...
