Consumer Acceptability and Nutritional Quality of African Yam Bean Cheese Produced With Different Coagulants
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
Therefore this project work is aimed at determining the consumer acceptability and nutritional quality of African yam bean cheese produced with different coagulants.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
African Yam Beans Plants (Sphenostylis stenocarpa)
African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) is a perennial climbing bush, 1-3 m high, that is cultivated annually. Its leaves comprise three leaves with oval leaflets (2.7 to 13 cm long and 0.2 to 5.5 cm broad) (Abuldukareem et al., 2015; Chikwendu et al., 2014; Chinedu and Nwonyi, 2012). African yam bean is cultivated for its edible tubers, which resemble elongated sweet potatoes, and for its seeds, which are contained in hard and tough pods of about 20- 30 cm long. It is exclusively utilized as food for feeding livestock (Ajayi et al., 2010; Ikemefuna and Julian, 2010; Heuze, 2016). It grows on deep, loose sandy and loamy soils with good organic content and good drainage. It flourishes better in regions where annual rainfall lies between 800 and 1400 mm, and where temperatures ranged from 19 to 27°C. The plant springs up flowers after 90 days and the pods become mature in 140 to 210 days. The tubers are ready to harvest as from 150 to 240 days after planting (Ikemefuna and Julian, 2010; Heuze, 2016; Ohanmu et al., 2018).
AYB plant yields small spindle-figured tubers that are about 5.0 to 7.5 cm tall (Okoye et al., 2019). The seeds are usually ground and substituted to other flour to produce composite flour so as to improve its functional potentials. Seeds can also be used in the preparation of soups, sauces and starch (Olasoji et al., 2011). They are important source of calcium and amino acids (Frank et al., 2016). Greater attention is being paid by the researchers on the exploitation of starch from under-utilized legumes seeds like pigeon pea and AYB so as to alleviate protein-energy deficiency in food and to improve products diversification of legumes.
They can cause giddiness if consumed in excess; however, it was believed that they can cure drunkenness when mixed with water (Yusuf et al., 2013; Sam, 2019). The high protein content of AYB makes it an important source of protein in the human diets of many tropical countries (Elsie and David, 2016). Furthermore, the high protein bean flour fractions could be substituted for wheat flour to produce good quality biscuits and bread in food industries (Gbenga-Fabusiwa et al., 2018b). It could also be used in preparing porridge, moimoi and beans cake. The flesh is white and watery, the tubers can be eaten fresh and thus saving the cost of fuel and fire woods (Ojueoderie and Balogun, 2019). The researchers that worked on AYB food processing reported that soaking overnight is a vital key to minimize cooking period (Popoola et al., 2011).
The tubers could be eaten raw or processed, however, the details are still not well understood, therefore, more work is expected to be carried out on this. Some countries like Mexico process the raw AYB in the following ways: raw tubers are sliced into sticks, sprinkled with lime juice and chill; the sliced tuber could be added to salads for dinner; cooked tuber could be used with or without vegetables for soup preparation; they can also be grated and boiled in milk to create a tasty drink; the tuber could be sliced, diced and pickled with onion and chill to form a popular snack food (Heuze, 2016; Ojueoderie and Balogun, 2019; Okoye et al., 2019).
Nutritional Composition of African Yam Bean
Animal food which are rich sources of protein are very expensive and beyond the rich of majority of the population (Chikwendu et al., 2014; Ajayi, 2011). However, vegetable proteins complement each other, a combination of legume and cereal protein will have a nutritive value as good as animal protein. According to Ajayi (2011) protein deficiency cannot be overcome by using animal products alone. He maintained that the only alternative is to push up the vegetable protein intake, which already makes up 70% of world’s protein production. This study revealed that AYB have many nutritional benefits which could improve the level of malnutrition, boost food security and serve as a good functional food in formulating composite flour that possess some health benefits. It was revealed that the nutritional composition of AYB consists of carbohydrate (63.39), ash (3.41), fat (0.54), protein (20.37) and crude fiber (1.54). The average mineral composition comprised Na (496), K (620), Ca (92), Mg (103), P (251), Zn (6), Fe (53), Mn (12), Cu (1.3), Cd (2.1) but Hg, As, Ni were found below detection limit (Abioye et al., 2015; Adewale et al., 2013; Ajayi et al., 2010; Ngwu et al., 2014).
Yusufu et al. (2013) evaluated complementary food produced from sorghum, AYB and mango mesocarp flour blends and reported an increase in the protein and fat level of the formulated complementary food from 8.90 to 17.40 and 1.50 to 3.50, respectively. However, a significant decrease in the carbohydrate level (78.00 to 67.59%) was observed. The sensory evaluation revealed that the formulated complementary food had good overall acceptability. In addition to this, it is revealed that the food produced is a protein-rich product with good functional potentials. Yusufu et al. (2016) produced cookies from maize, AYB and plantain composite flour and reported that cookies had higher levels of proteins, fat, moisture, beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A), vitamin C, and iron but reduced carbohydrate when compared to the control (100% Wheat). Cookies produced from 70% maize, 20% AYB and 10% plantain composite flour had the highest score for general acceptability and compared favorably with the control cookies for almost all sensory attributes.
Microbiological analysis revealed that all the cookies produced were free of microorganisms for up to two months of storage under ambient conditions. The use of plant protein sources in local food formulations could be vital in upgrading their nutritional, functional and sensory properties. Previous work done on the effect of processing on the nutritional levels of AYB depicted that protein content, crude fiber and lipid are significantly higher in raw, unprocessed than the processed AYB (Uche et al., 2014; Adegunwa et al., 2012; Sam, 2019). The level of crude protein and crude fiber for the processed AYB were lower than that of unprocessed AYB (Uche et al., 2014; Adegunwa et al., 2012). The loss in protein content could be due to denaturation that took place during roasting process. Contrary to this, Chikwendu et al. (2014) reported that fermentation process improved protein (24.70-28.70) and ash levels of AYB flour. However, carbohydrate content of the flour sample was decreased by fermentation process. Roasting Increased the % levels of Ca, K, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mg, P but Zn level was reduced (Uche et al., 2014; Adegunwa et al., 2012).
Boiling processing resulted in reduction in Ca, K, Fe, Mn and Zn, however there was increased in moisture and carbohydrate levels of AYB (Uche et al., 2014). This assertion could be attributed to the dehydration that took place during roasting process, hence, improve the concentration of the mineral content in the raw or unprocessed AYB. The presence of water during boiling will definitely increase moisture content of AYB, enhance hydration, hydrolysis, thus the conversion of some mineral to other compounds which may likely result to the reduction in mineral levels of processed AYB when compared to raw AYB. Antinutrient compounds are toxic, harmful and may impair digestibility of protein and some vital minerals into the body system. However, the good news is that they are labile and thus may be reduced or inactivated by processing methods such as boiling, roasting and frying (Nwosu, 2010).
CHAPTER THREE
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Materials Source
African yam bean (Spenostylis stenocarpa) was purchased from Arimogija, Okeluse in Ondo State. Sodom apple leaves and alum were purchased from the main market in Owo, Ondo State Nigeria. The corn steep liquor (72 hours) fermentation was supplied by Miss Abosede Joseph working on Ogi in the food processing laboratory.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Results
Table 4.1: Physicochemical characteristics of cheese prepared from Africa Yam Bean seeds using different coagulants
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusion
Africa Yam Bean (Sphenostylis sternocarpa), is a lesser known and dehulled crop that can be used extensively in various dietary preparations to meet the protein requirements of many families in Nigeria. However, the legumes potential is largely unexploited, due to its characteristics problem of hard to cook phenomenon, poor digestibility and flatulence. The utilization of African yam bean in producing cheese of acceptable sensory attributes with all the coagulants used in this study will help to nullify constraint used above. Conclusively, the production of cheese from AYB would be of economic importance in Nigeria and other African countries as this will promote the use of this indigenous crop.
Recommendations
It is recommended that the use of corn steep liquor as coagulant should be encouraged due to its non-chemical nature, ready availability and nutritional enhancement.
REFERENCES
- Abdulkareem, K., Animasaun, D.A., Oyedeji, S. and Olabanji, O.M. (2015). Morphological characterization and variability study of African yam beans [Sphenostylis Stenocarpa (Hochst Ex A. Rich)]. Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences 21(1):21-27
- Abioye, V.F., Olanipekun, B.F. and Omotosho, O.T. (2015). Effect of varieties on the proximate, nutritional and anti-nutritional composition of nine variants of African yam bean seeds (Sphenostylis Stenocarpa), Donnish Journal of Food Science and Technology 1(2):017-021.
- Adegunwa, M.O., Adebowale, A.A. and Solano, E.O. (2012). Effect of thermal processing on the biochemical composition, antinutritional factors and functional properties of beniseed (Sesamum indicum) flour. American Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2(3):175-182.
- Adewale, B., Daniel, A. and Aremu, C.O. (2013). The nutritional potentials and possibilities in African yam bean for Africans. International Journal of Agriculture 3(1): 8-19.
- Ajayi, A.O. (2011). Sustainable dietary supplements: An analytical study of African yam bean Sphenostylis sternocarpa and Corn-Zea Maize. European Journal of Experimental Biology 1(4):189-201
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