Some chemical and physical properties of bambara groundnut seed were determined. The proximate composition of the bambara groundnut seed was found to be 9.7% moisture, 16.6% protein, 5.9% fat, 2.9% ash, 4.9% crude fibre and 64.9% carbohydrate. Maximum water absorption was attained after soaking for 11, 9, 6, and 4 h at 25, 40, 50, and 60 degrees C, respectively. Maximum dehulling efficiency was attained when the seeds absorbed 54.7% water and drying for 9 h at 60 degrees C. Study of the microstructure of the raw flour and seed showed that they contained differently shaped and sized starch granules and protein materials within the cell wall in the cotyledon. Milling disorganised the arrangement of these components in the cotyledons. In the steamed moin-moin ('okpa'), all components in the seed had lost their identity and integrity.

Large brown eye Kano white cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) seeds were processed into three batches of flour by wetting, drying individually at 30, 80, and 120 degrees C, decorticating and dry milling. Starch was extracted from the cowpea seed and protein from the flour using water as solvent. The water-extractable proteins were purified by dialysis and analysed by electrophoresis. The cowpea flour was used to produce akara balls (fried paste). The microstructure of the cowpea cotyledon, flour, starch and akara crumb were examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Electrophoretic separation revealed that some of the protein fractions from the sample extracted from 30 degrees C dried cowpea were absent in the sample extracted from the 80 degrees C and 120 degrees C dried cowpeas or their quantities had decreased. In the SEM study, no difference was observed in the microstructure of the three flour samples except in the size and shape of the starch granules and particles of protein and cell wall material. The starch granules from the cowpea dried at 120 degrees C had surface defects. Cavities occurred in the cotyledons of the 80 and 120 degrees C dried cowpea seeds, some starch granules, protein matrix and sometimes the entire cell contents were lost from the cell. The protein sheet in the akara crumb became thicker as temperature increased to 80 and 120 degrees C.

The microstructure of African yam bean (Sphenostylis sternocarpa) cotyledons, flour, starch and gel prepared from flour were examined using scanning electron microscopy. Smooth starch granules varying in size and shape were embedded in the protein matrix. The starch granules maintained their integrity in the flour after milling. The texture profile parameters of starch and flour gels were studied at both 50 and 75% double compression and relaxation levels using the Instron Universal Tester. Significant variations were observed in the texture of the top and bottom portions of the gel. Increased solid content from 10.00% to 25.04% significantly increased the hardness of yam bean gel; however, further increase of solid content to 30.80% had only limited effect. Addition of oil decreased hardness of plain gel which may be due to the shortening and softening effects.

The effects of various concentrations of different ripe fruit pulps on the sensory and nutritive quality of breakfast cereal were studied. The breakfast cereal was formulated using 1 kg composite flour (composed of 600 g maize flour and 400 g soy flour) in addition to 100 g cassava starch, 225 g sugar and 12 g salt. Pineapple, pawpaw and banana ripe fruit pulps were added separately to the breakfast formulation at concentrations of 0, 100, 200, 300 and 400 g/kg composite flour. Using sensory evaluation, the data obtained showed that samples containing 100 g pineapple, 100 g banana pulp and 100 g pawpaw fruit pulp per kilogram of composite flour (equivalent to 7% of the total weight of the breakfast cereal formulation) were the most acceptable of all concentrations. These samples were comparable in sensory evaluation scores with the commercial breakfast cereal sample Golden morn. Chemical analysis also showed that there was increase in ss-carotene (vitamin A precursor) and vitamin C and a slight increase in the mineral content of the breakfast cereal as a result of the addition of fruit pulp.