Marbling and fat trim level did not significantly affect sensory attributes of steaks. However, steaks became increasingly tougher and less juicy with increased internal end-point temperature. Cooking losses were greater for steaks with regular trim than those with total trim and increased with degree of doneness. Except for potassium, fat trim levels did not affect mineral content in cooked muscle. Intramuscular fat levels had variable effects on retention of minerals during cooking. Muscle from steaks with slight marbling had higher cholesterol levels than from those with modest marbling, but neither fat trim level nor doneness affected cholesterol content.

This research produced wine from unripe plantain fruits using spontaneous fermentation method. The period of production was five days. The purpose of this study was to isolate and identify microorganisms associated with unripe plantain fruits, determine the physicochemical parameters of the fermenting medium. Microbial count, foaming density, alcohol content, enzymes assay, sensory analysis, physicochemical properties, mineral content, antioxidants properties, and antinutrient content of the sample were investigated every 24 h for 5 days. A total of seven bacteria and four fungi consisting of yeasts and moulds were isolated during the study. The microbial loads of bacteria and fungi of the unfermented plantain fruits were 8.0 × 106 ± 0.01 cfu/mL and 14.2 × 104 ± 0.01 sfu/mL respectively. The temperature (ºC), pH and titratable acidity (%) ranged from 25.55-32.50, 4.51-5.50 and 0.99-3.50 respectively. The sample was observed to be colourless all through the fermentation periods. Turbidity of the samples increased during fermentation from 43.50 to 111.00. The data obtained from this work has shown the importance of unripe plantain micro-flora in the production of “Agadagidi”. It is also concluded that consortium of microorganisms inherent within the plantain fruits are involved in plantain fruits fermentation. This information can contribute to a better understanding of the “Agadagidi” production process for a consistent quality beverage.

This study investigated effects of fermentation and extrusion on the in vitro protein andstarch digestibility of unripe plantain and pigeon pea blends. The blended samples were set-up in three arrangements (A=100g unripe plantain; B= 70g unripe plantain: 30g pigeon pea; C= 50g unripe plantain: 50g pigeon pea) and divided into four batches (i.e. first batch = preconditioned and fermented; second batch = extruded; third batch = fermented and extruded; and fourth batch = unfermented/unextruded). Semi-solid state method of fermentation was deployed to ferment blended samples for 96 hours. The pH, temperature and total titratable acidity (TTA) of these samples were evaluated. Fifteen microorganisms comprising 9 bacteria, 2 yeasts and 4 molds were isolated and identified as; Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum, Leuconostocmesenteroides, Lactobacillus mali, Streptococcus lactis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida utilis, Aspergillusniger, Aspergillusfumigatus, Aspergilluscandidus, and Mucorhiemalis. There were notable variation in the values of pH and total titratable acidity (TTA) during fermentation. The processes of fermentation and extrusion significantly amplified the in vitro starch digestibility of the flour blends with fermented extruded samples (51.03±0.02 to 55.19±0.02mg/ml) unlike theraw flour blends (36.77±0.20 to 41.26±0.003mg/ml).The in vitro protein digestibility significantly increased with the extruded fermented samples (12.73±0.17 to 15.45±0.06mg/ml) and lowest forraw flour blends (4.57±0.29 to 5.98±0.37mg/ml). Hence, it can be concluded based from the available information from this study that fermentation and extrusion increase the in vitro starch digestibility and protein digestibility of unripe plantain and pigeon pea blends.