Abstract:

This study was carried out to investigate proximate composition, functional properties and sensory evaluation of wheat, plantain and cocoyam flour blended doughnuts at different levels of plantain and cocoyam flour substitution for consumption. A whole wheat doughnuts and composite doughnuts were prepared in duplicates at 0, 12, 15, 30, 35% and 0, 8, 25, 25 and 50% levels of plantain and cocoyam flours substitution respectively and evaluated for proximate composition using AOAC Methods. The results reveal that moisture, ash, crude fiber and carbohydrate contents of the composite doughnuts increased significantly (p<0.05) while the protein and fat contents decreased significantly with progressive increase in the cocoyam and plantain flour substitution. The proximate composition of the various doughnut samples ranged from moisture, 16.29-20.15, ash, 1.49-2.6, protein, 4.54-9.36, fat, 38.35-46.35, fibre, 0.34-3.12 and carbohydrate, 42.20-49.18 g/100g. Results obtained from the functional properties of the composite flour revealed significant increase (p < 0.05) in water absorption capacity (118.78-135.61) and bulk density (0.58-0.70) as the levels of the plantain and cocoyam flours increased while the oil absorption capacity (68.21-96.44), emulsion ability (48.16-64.16) and foaming capacity (6.23-13.05) of the whole wheat flour increased. The sensory scores for the entire doughnut samples were above average, implying that the doughnut samples were highly acceptable based on the parameters assessed. The study concludes that Cocoyam and plantain flours could be blended with wheat flour up to 8% and 12% in doughnuts and other pastries preparation with no apparent difference in taste, aroma, or acceptability.

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