Novel pearl millet couscous process for West African markets using a low‐cost single‐screw extruder

Abstract

Traditional West African pearl millet couscous products are popular; however, their preparation is laborious, time‐consuming and energy‐demanding, involving agglomeration, steaming, drying and sieving steps. In this study, a process was developed to produce millet couscous using a high pressure, high temperature and low‐cost single‐screw extruder. The innovation was to directly process the cooked low‐moisture extrudate to a couscous product by drying and milling to the appropriate particle size (ranging between 1 and 2 mm). Throughput for the traditional process as prepared for commercial sale is 50 kg per day, but with the same amount of labour, the extrusion process yields ~350 kg per day. A consumer sensory study held in Niamey (Niger) showed that the extruded millet couscous was comparable to traditional couscous, though this was dependent on selection of the proper millet variety. This novel extrusion process could stimulate small‐ to medium‐scale manufacturing of couscous and couscous‐type products in West Africa.