Proximate and Functional Properties of Flour Blends Produced From Sweet Potato, Yam and Plantain Flour
Chapter One
Objective of the Study
The objective of this project report is to examine the proximate and functional properties of flour blends produced from sweet potato, yam and plantain flour.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas)
Sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas L. (Lam.), is an important economic crop in many countries. In terms of annual production, sweet potato ranks as the fifth most important food crop in the tropics and the seventh in the world food production after wheat, rice, maize, potato, barley, and cassava (FAO, 2016). Sweet potato fulfills a number of basic roles in the global food system, all of which have fundamental implications for meeting food requirements, reducing poverty, and increasing food security (El‐Sheikha and Ray, 2017). Sweet potato roots have high nutritional value and sensory versatility in terms of taste, texture, and flesh color (white, cream, yellow, orange, purple). The varieties with high dry matter (>25%), white‐cream flesh color, and mealy firm texture after cooking are preferred by the consumers in the tropics. These varieties are known as tropical sweetpotato (e.g., “bianito,” “batiste,” or “camote”). The purple‐fleshed sweet potato varieties with attractive color and high anthocyanin content are the specialty type in Asia.
In the United States, the commercially popular type is the orange‐fleshed sweet potato with low dry matter content (18–25%), high β‐carotene level, sweet and moist‐texture after cooking. This sweet potato type is imprecisely called “yam,” which is not the true tropical yam of Dioscorea species. Historically, African Americans in Louisiana referred this moist‐ sweet potato as “nyami” because it reminded them of the starchy tuber of that name in Africa. The Senagalese word “nyami” was eventually shortened to the trademark “yam” popular in the United States. Commercial packages with “yam” labels are required by the US Department of Agriculture to have the word “sweet potato” in the label to avoid confusion to the consumers (Estes, 2009).
Depending on the flesh color, sweet potatoes contain high levels of β‐carotene, anthocyanins, phenolics, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other bioactive compounds. The β‐carotene in orange‐fleshed sweet potatoes can play a significant role as a viable long‐term food‐based strategy for combating vitamin A deficiency in the world. Studies in Africa demonstrated that increased consumption of orange‐fleshed sweet potatoes improved the vitamin A status of children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers (Van Jaarsveld et al., 2005; Low et al., 2007; Hotz et al., 2012).
Production and consumption of sweet potato
Sweet potato has wide production geography, from 40° north to 32° south latitude of the globe, and it is cultivated in 114 countries. The world total production of sweet potatoes was 106.60 million metric tons (MMT) in 2014. Since the mid‐2000s, global production has ranged from a low of 101.28 MMT in 2007 to a high of 147.17 MMT in 1999. In 2014, about three‐fourth of the global production was from Asia and Pacific Islands, followed by Africa with about 21%, while the Americas (North, Central, and South) account for about 3.6%. China was the leading producer of sweet potatoes, with 71.54 MMT or about 67% of the global production, followed by Nigeria (3.78 MMT), Tanzania (3.5 MMT), Ethiopia (2.7 MMT), and Mozambique (2.4 MMT). The United States was the tenth largest producer, with 1.34 MMT production. Only two countries in Europe, Portugal and Spain, grow sweet potatoes, with 22,591 and 13,550 metric tons produced in 2014 (FAO, 2015).
In comparison to other major staple food crops, sweet potatoes have good adaptability to marginal growing conditions, short production cycle, and high yield potential. The average world yield of sweet potatoes is about 14 tons per hectare. Under subsistence conditions in many areas of the tropics, the average sweet potato yield is about 6 metric tons/hectare, far below the 20–26 metric tons/hectare obtained in China, Japan, and the United States, where improved varieties, fertilizer applications, and cultural managements have been introduced. The per capita consumption is highest in places where sweet potatoes are consumed as a staple food, e.g., Papua New Guinea at 550 kg per person per year, the Solomon Islands at 160 kg, Burundi and Rwanda at 130 kg, and Uganda at 85 kg. The average annual per capita consumption of sweet potatoes is estimated at 18 kg in Asia, 9 kg in Africa, 5 kg in Latin America. Between 2000 and 2014, sweet potato consumption in the United States increased nearly 80%, from 1.9 kg to 3.4 kg per capita (FAO, 2015; Johnson et al., 2015).
Sweet potato consumption has been greatly enhanced by the wide spread commercial availability of frozen “French‐fried” sweet potatoes. To accommodate this recent growth trend, increased modern processing capacity has been built within the southern US sweet potato growing regions (Johnson et al., 2015).
Classification and origin of sweet potato
The sweet potato (I. batatas L.) is a dicotyledonous plant belonging to the morning glory or Convolvulaceae family. It is a new world crop, though there is still some confusion that exists regarding its origin, and primary and secondary centers of diversity. Roullier et al. (2013a, b) and Grüneberg et al. (2015) have published thorough reviews of this topic. In brief, using data from morphology, ecology, and cytology, Austin (2008) has postulated that cultivated sweet potatoes originated somewhere in the region between the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and the mouth of the Orinoco river in northeastern Venezuela. Recent studies conducted by Roullier et al. (2013 a, b) incorporating chloroplast DNA and molecular phylogeny analyses confirm this hypothesis. They also suggest that I. batatas most likely evolved from at least two distinct autopolyploidization events in wild populations of a single progenitor species most likely I. trifida.
Secondary contact between sweet potatoes domesticated in Central America and in South America, from differentiated wild I. batatas or I. trifida populations, could have led to further introgression. Molecular marker analyses conducted by Huang and Sun (2000) and Zhang et al. (2000) also places Central America as the region with the most genetic diversity and probable origin (Huang and Sun, 2000; Zhang et al., 2000). Remains of dried sweetpotato roots found in Peru have been radiocarbon dated back to 8,000–10,000 years old, though it is unknown if these were collected from the wild or were domesticated (Engel, 2000). Regardless of the center of origin, sweetpotato was widely established in tropical regions of the new world around 2500 b.c. (Austin, 2008). It was established in Polynesia, prior to European arrival (Roullier et al., 2013b). Europeans in the 1500s spread the sweet potato to Africa and India, with it arriving in China prior to 1600. Secondary centers of diversity include New Guinea, the Philippines, and parts of Africa (Bohac et al., 2005; Roullier et al., 2013a, b).
CHAPTER THREE
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Collection of Materials
Sweet potato, yam and plantain were purchased from the main market of Owo, the raw materials were processed into flour in the Processing Laboratory and analysis was carried out in the Chemistry Laboratory in the Department of Food Science and Technology.
Methods of Preparation
Production of sweet potato flour
Fresh sweet potato root were washed, peeled and sliced into small pieces. After slicing, it was then wet milled, sieved, sedimented for 24 hours, drained, sun dried for 3 days and dry milled into powder, sieved and packaged in airtight container for further analysis (Figure 1).
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Results
Table 4.1: Proximate composition of flour blends from sweet potato, yam and plantain flour
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusion
Supplementation of sweet potato with yam and plantain flour produced composite flour with higher nutritional value as evidenced in increased ash content signifying increased micronutrients and protein content. The functional properties of the flour blends were also greatly improved. The flour blend is therefore a potential raw material in food production at household levels and for industrial purposes to combat hunger and provision of nutritious foods to fight malnutrition problems on African continent and developing countries.
Recommendations
With the findings in this study, it’s therefore recommended that since sweet potato, yam, and plantain flour blends possess good nutritional qualities and functional properties that are desirable to improve the nutritional wellbeing of Nigerians, therefore it (flour blends) should be encourage by consuming and utilizing its for production of snacks and other confectionaries in food industries in Nigeria and other developing countries.
REFERENCES
- Abara, A.E., Tawo, E.N., Obi-Abang, M.E. and Obochi, G.O. (2011): Dietary fibre components of four common Nigerian Dioscorea species. Pakistan J. Nutr, 10, 383–387
- Adeleke, R.O. and Odedeji, J.O. (2010): Functional properties of wheat and sweet potato flour blends. Pak. J of Nutr. 9(6):535-538
- Adeniji, T.A., Barimalaa, I.S. and Achinewhu, S.C. (2006): Evaluation of bunch characteristics and flour yield potential in black Sigatoka resistant plantain and banana hybrids. Global Journal of Pure and Applied Science, 12, 41–43
- Adeniyi, T.A., Sanni, L.O., Barimalaa,, L.S. and Hart, A.D. (2006): Determination of micronutrients and colour variability among new plantain and banana hybrid flour W. J. Chem. 1(1): 23-27
- Afoakwa, E.O., Polycarp, D., Budu, A.S., Mensah-brown, H. and Otoo, E. (2013): Variability in biochemical composition and cell wall constituents among seven varieties in Ghanaian yam (Dioscorea sp.) germplasm. Afr. J. Food Agric. Nutr. Dev. 13, 8106–8127
- Akinsola, A.O., Segilola, V.O., Ayoola, R.B. and Gbadegesin, I.O. (2021): Nutritional Quality And Sensory Properties Of Instant Plantain Flake Enriched With Egg Parts. Multidisc. Acad. J. Pub. 13(1): 41-50.
- Akissoe, N., Mestres, C., Hounhouigan, J. and Nago, M. (2006): “Prediction of the sensory texture of a yam thick paste (amala) using instrumental and physicochemical parameters,” Journal of Texture Studies, vol. 37, pp. 393-412.
