Effects of Stages of Enrichment on the Chemical Composition of Soy-melon “Gari”– A Protein Enriched Cassava Semolina

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed at determining the effects of enriching “gari”, a fermented, dewatered and toasted granules from cassava with soy-melon, a legume protein supplement on its chemical composition. Study Design: The study was carried out under a Randomized Complete Bloch design using ANOVA to analyze the replicate data obtained while Duncan New Multiple Range (DNMR) test was used to separate the means. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria between January, 2008 and June 2010 Methodology: “Gari”, a fermented, dewatered and toasted granule from cassava was enriched with full-fat soy-melon supplement at three stages of processing namely: (i) before fermentation (wet-mix method), (ii) during toasting (soak-mix method) and (iii) after toasting (dry-mix method) were subjected to chemical analysis. Results: Enrichment increased the protein content from 2.81% to a range of 15.13% - 19.92%. The fat increased from 3.20% to 10.43% - 16.07%; while the ash content increased from 1.18% to 2.04% - 2.62%. Hydrocyanic acid was reduced from 13.40mg/kg to 6.72 – 12.40mg/kg in the enriched products. The pH increased from 3.62 to 3.68 - 4.94 with the sample from the soak-mix method having the highest pH. The sample toasted together with the supplement was found to be comparable to the control sample more than the sample enriched before fermentation and after toasting. Conclusion: The ‘soak-mix’ method (enrichment during toasting) produced “gari” of better nutritional qualities than “gari” from the ‘wet-mix’ and the ‘dry-mix’ methods.