The physical, proximate and anti-nutritional properties of five accessions of African yam bean (AYB) seeds (TSs 57, TSs 61, TSs 93, TSs 94 and TSs 116) obtained from Genetic Resource Centre (GRC) of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) were studied and compared. This was aimed at unraveling the nutritional importance of this crop to enhance its production and utilisation. The physical properties investigated include seed size, length to diameter ratio, seed weight, percentage of seed coat, bulk density and loose density. Proximate composition and anti-nutritional factors such as saponin, oxalate, phytate, alkaloids, tannin, trypsin inhibitor and hydrogen cyanide of these accessions processed flours were also examined. The results of physical properties indicated significant differences (P<0.05) among the accessions except accessions TSs 93 and TSs 94 that did not differ in their lengths and diameters and also accessions TSs 61 and TSs 116 did not differ in their thicknesses. Results of proximate analysis revealed that crude fibre, fat and carbohydrate contents of the accessions were not significantly different from one another at (P<0.05) except TSs 94 that differed in its carbohydrate and TSs 116 also differed in its crude fibre from others. Meanwhile, in terms of anti-nutritional factors, there existed no significant difference in saponin contents but there were significant differences in oxalate, phytate, alkaloids, tannin, trypsin inhibitor and hydrogen cyanide among the accessions tested.

Noodle consumption has been increasing in Nigeria as a result of rapid urbanization, increase in population growth, and desire for convenience food. Noodles are produced from wheat our which is not grown in Nigeria. In order to reduce wheat imports and improve utilization of local crops, various options have been developed to replace wheat flour partially or wholly in noodle production. This study was aimed at optimizing the level of major ingredients to obtain the best flour blend for noodle preparation with optimum nutritional quality. Pro-vitamin A cassava roots (Manihot esculenta Crantz) and African yam bean seeds (AYB) (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) were processed into ours. The ranges of these flours, based on preliminary findings, were computed into a central composite design of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to obtain 13 flour blends with five central points. The chemical compositions, anti-nutritional factors, and pasting properties of these flour blends were analyzed and measured. By maximizing total β-carotene, protein content, and minimizing fat content, the predicted model indicated the optimum blend of 70.52% cassava flour to 29.48% AYB flour. The best our blend sample of 69.23% cassava our to 30.77% AYB flour gave the actual value of total β-carotene 6.76 μg/g, with proximate analysis composition of protein 6.17%, fat 0.82%, moisture 8.95%, ash 1.77%, crude fiber 5.09%, and carbohydrate 82.30%. The anti-nutritional factors of the best blend were 8.21 mg HCNeqv/kg, 1.69 mg phytate/g and 0.37 mg tannin/g.

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