Quality Evaluation of Maize Chips (Kokoro) Made From Maize and Bambara Groundnut Flour Blends
Chapter One
Aim and Objective
Aim
The aim of this study is to evaluate the nutritional quality of kokoro made from maize flour and Bambara groundnut flour.
Specific Objective
The specific objectives of the study are to:
- Determine the chemical composition and antioxidant properties of ‘kokoro’ made,
- Evaluate the functional prosperities of maize and Bambara groundnut blend flours and
- Evaluate consumers’ acceptability of the enriched ‘kokoro’ made from maize and Bambara groundnut blend flour.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Maize and Maize Products
Maize or corn is a plant belonging to the family of grasses (Poaceae). It is cultivated globally being one of the most import cereal crops worldwide. Maize is not only an important human nutrient, but also a basic element of animal feed and raw material for manufactuer of many industrial products. The products include corn starch, maltodextrins, corn oil, corn syrup and products of fermentation and distillation industries. It is also being recently used as biofuel (Oloye, 2009).
The name maize is derived from South American Indian Arawak-Carib word mahiz. It is also known as Indian corn or corn in America (Kochhar, 2006). However, in commodities trading, corn consistently refers to maize and not other gains. It was introduced to Nigeria probably in the 16th century by the Portuguese (Osagie and Eka, 1998). In Nigeria, maize is known and called by different vernacular names depending on locality ‘agbado,’, ‘igbado’, or ‘yangan’ (Yoruba): ‘masara’ or ‘dawar masara’ (Hausa) ‘ogbado’ or ‘oka’ (Ibo); ‘apaapa’ (Ibira).
The global production of maize is estimated to about 300million tons per year. 145million (or about 50%) are produced in USA alone (Ihelarouye and Ngoddy, 1995; Kochhar, 2006; Purseglove, 1992). In Nigeria, its production is quite common in all parts of the country, from the north to the south, with an annual production of about 5.6million tones.
Maize is prepared and consumed in multitude of ways which vary from region to region or form one ethic group to the other. For instance, maize grins are prepared by boiling or roasting as aste ‘eko’, ‘abado’ and ‘elekute’ in Nigeria and ‘kenke’ in Ghana, or as popcorn which is eaten allover West Africa.
Chemical composition of maize
Maize consists of three main parts the hull or bran coat with high fiber content, germ rich in oil and starchy endosperm. (National Institute of Nutrition, 2002). There are important differences in the chemical composition of the main parts of the maize kernel. The seed coat or pericarp is characterized by a high crude fibre content of about 87%, which is constituted mainly of hemicelluloses (67%), cellulose (23%) and lignin (0.1%) (Burge and Duensing, 2009). On the other hand, the endosperm contains a high level of starch (87.6%) and protein levels of about 8%. Crude fat content in the endosperm, is relatively low. Finally, the germ is characterized by a high crude fat content, averaging about 33%. The germ also contains a relatively high level of protein (18.4%) and minerals (www.fao.org).
Nutritional compositions of maize
One of the reasons maize is a staple food across the world is its high nutritional value, with high levels of starch and also valuable proteins and oil (Shewry, 2007). Depending on the variety, maize any contain a number of important B vitamins, folic acid, vitamin C, and provitamin A (i.e prescursor to vitamin A). Maize is also rich in phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, iron and selenium, and has small amounts of potassium calcium. Maize is a god source of dietary fibre and protein (Kumar and Jhariya, 2013). While being very low in fat and sodium (salt). However, maize is naturally deficient in lysine and tryptophan, which are two of eight amino acids regarded as essential for humans, so it needs to be part of a balanced diet (teacherfriendlyguide.org).
CHAPTER THREE
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Materials
The dried samples of quality protein maize (QPM) was purchased form institute of Agriculture and Research Technology (IAR &T), Ibadan, Nigeria. Bambara groundnut, refined vegetable oil, onions and salt used in this study was purchased, form a local market in Akure, Nigeria. The processing time, temperatures, and all unit operations were monitored.
Methods
Production of maize and bambara groundnut flour
The fermented maize flour was prepared by wet milling process with slight modification (Adeyemi and Beckly, 2006; Adeniyi and Porter, 1978; Osungbaro, 1990a, 1990b, 1998). The maize grains were sorted and cleaned to remove broken grains and foreign objects. The grains were washed and soaked in water and allowed to ferment for 72hours (3days). The grains were wet milled in a commercial maize mill and filtered through muslin sloth to removed excess water. The slurry obtained was left to sediment ad ferment for 24hours at room temperature (27+20C). The water was decanted and the past obtained was dried in an oven at 700C for 12hours. The dried paste was milled into flour in a maize mill and packaged for further use. The bambara groundnut was dehulled manually. The were then dried, at 55-600C, for 20hours, the dried bambara groundnut we dry milled to obtain bambara groundnut flour.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Proximate Composition of Enriched Kokoro
Table 4:1: Proximate composition of Maize-bambara groundnut ‘kokoro’ blends
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion
The study showed that low nutritional quality of kokoro can be improved through supplementation with BGN flour. This is reflected particularly in the improved protein (15:20-23.03%) which increased with increase in BGN flour. Kokoro form maize-bambara groundnut blend can serve as a nutritious food or snack and help redress the problem of protein-energy malnutrition. The supplementation of maize with BGN flour significantly improved the functional properties of the blends. Sensory evaluation showed that consumers tend to prefer kokoro from 100% maize. The results indicated that increase in BGN flour cause decreased in the score attributes in terms of taste, colour and crispiness of the ‘kokoro’ BGN blend. However, it may be due to familiarity with kokoro made solely from maize. The percentage inclusion of the BGN may depend on the consumer preferences and this should be applied gradually to encourage familiarity with time.
In addition to the aforementioned, there would be an increase in demand and utilization for BGN by the processor of kokoro snack; hence this would eventually encourage the cultivation of more hectares by the farmers for the crop and more income on returns. The cultivation of more farmland will require additionally capable hand and thus create job opportunities.
Recommendation
It can be recommended that further studies can be done on the amino acid profile kokoro from maize and bambara groundnut flours to determine the quality of the food product.
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