While micronutrient malnutrition has become a major public health problem in developing countries, consumption of biofortified foods such as orange fleshed sweet potato has proved to be cost effective means of addressing vitamin A deficiency. This paper describes consumer preferences and willingness to pay for Orange fleshed Sweet potato (OFSP) juice based on a structured survey and taste tests administered to 946 participants (384 female and 562 male) chosen at random in Rwanda. Four juices types were tested: two popular brands of 100% pineapple juice, one 100%-OFSP juice, and one 80% OFSP- 20% pineapple juice blend. Consumers ranked different attributes of each juice such as aroma, taste, color, “right” amount of sugar, and aftertaste using a Likert scale (1 to 5). Heckman two-stage probit model was used to analyze willingness to pay and a multinomial logit model was used to analyze the determinants of juice choice. Gender of the consumer, juice buying frequency, aroma, the taste of the juice, and vitamin A knowledge were positively associated with willingness to pay and juice choice. Without nutritional information on OFSP juice, the willingness to pay for the standard juices were statistically higher; but with nutritional information, the willingness to pay and choice of OFSP juice was significantly improved. It is concluded that nutrition information is an important factor influencing the acceptance and willingness to pay for OFSP juice.
Cassava is a staple food and an important and cheap source of carbohydrate in Rwanda. However, the nature and chemical composition of cassava roots limit its proper use as food due to its toxicity and short shelf life. The cyanogenic glucosides found in the cassava roots are responsible for the toxicity. The aim of the study was to characterize the chemical profile and consumer acceptability of paste from eight cassava varieties processed into flour using four processing methods. The cassava samples were harvested from trials conducted at Rubona Station of Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board. Four processing methods were used, namely, Cassava grated fermented, Cassava roots fermented, Cassava grated no fermented and Cassava roots no fermented. Pressing was done before drying the products to obtain the flour. At each stage of processing, the samples were prepared for laboratory analysis of dry mater, titratable acidity, cyanhydric acid and crude fiber by Rwanda Standards Board laboratory. Cassava flour was made into paste and sensory evaluation was conducted to evaluate the acceptability of the eight cassava varieties. The sensory attributes for the Ugali tested was significantly different (P<0.05). The method of grating before fermentation gave the most tasty Ugali than cassava root fermented. The more prefered varieties were GAHENE/2 and SEMAK 150/452 followed by BULK 13, MH95/0091 and NASE 14. The chemical analysis done for the 8 cassava varieties flour from the 4 processing methods exhibited the acceptable acidity and the NASE 14, Gahene/2 and Bulk 13 had the lowest cyanide hydrogen.
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