No abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the possibility of fortifying kunun zaki with tigernut milk extract due to nutritional deficiency of the former. Kunun zaki and tigernut milk extract (TME) were produced using traditional methods, with little modification. They were mixed in respective percentages of 90:10 (KN10), 80:20 (KN20), and 70:30 (KN30) while whole kunun zaki without addition of tigernut milk extract (KN00) served as control. The resulting kunun zaki samples were analyzed for proximate composition, vitamins, minerals, microbial loads, and sensory evaluation. Results showed improvement in thiamine and riboflavin contents of the fortified samples over the unfortified counterparts, with the KN30 sample having highest values of 1.05 and 0.56 mg/ kg thiamine and riboflavin, respectively. Minerals were higher in the samples containing TME than their KN00 counterparts; the KN30 sample had highest values of 23.5, 8.8, 148.9, 63.7, 6.7, and 18.6 mg/100 mL for respective Na, Ca, K, Mg, P, and Fe while lowest values were recorded for the KN00 sample. Microbial analysis indicated that total viable bacteria and yeast and molds were in the range 2.2-2.6 and 2.1-2.7 log CFU/g, respectively, while there was no detection of coliforms and Staphylococcus in the samples. The sensory evaluation of the kunun zaki samples indicated that higher mean scores were recorded for samples containing TME than those without it in most of the attributes tested. The KN30 sample was most preferred, having highest mean scores of 7.2, 7.8, 6.9, and 7.4 in the attributes of appearance, flavor, taste, and acceptability, respectively. The study concluded that inclusion of tigernut extract in kunun zaki resulted in improved nutritional and sensory qualities. 97

The volatile compounds in the leaves and seeds of Piper guineense plant from South East Nigeria, were investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The analysis was carried out to identify the compounds responsible for the characteristic flavor of the flavouring spices. A total of thirty-three volatile constituents were identified in the leaves and seeds of Piper guineense using GC-MS. The major compounds identified include acids, esters, alcohols, hydrocarbons and others. Acids were found to be the predominant constituent group followed by esters. The leaves and seeds of Piper guineense had acids in the values of 65.56 and 53.72%, respectively. The esters were also found to be more in the leaves (25.63%) than in the seeds (5.22%) of P. guineense. The hydrocarbons identified appeared more in the seeds (11.47%) of P. guineense. The monoterpene (beta-myrcene) and sesquiterpenes (aromadendrene, trans-alpha-bergamotene, copaene) hydrocarbons identified were also present in the seeds than in the leaves of the P. guineense. Gamma-elemene, a sesquiterpene were identified in both the leaves and seeds of P. guineense at the same retention time of 10.242 min but at different concentrations of 0.41 and 0.72%, respectively.

Tom Brown is a porridge produced from blends of nutritious locally available ingredients. This study aimed at expanding the utilization of some indigenous crops. Tom Brown was made from toasted composite flours of local rice, pearl millet, pumpkin pulp and soybean. A total of seven formulations were obtained in this study (samples 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206 and 207). The proximate, mineral, vitamin composition and sensory attributes of the Tom Brown samples were assessed using standard procedures. The proximate composition result revealed significant (p<0.05) increase in protein, fat, ash and fiber contents. The control sample had the lowest moisture and highest carbohydrate contents (9.54% and 79.44%) respectively. There was progressive increase in the mineral and vitamin composition of the Tom Brown as the ratio of pearl millet, pumpkin pulp and soybean increased. The highest values of minerals and vitamins were observed in sample 206(35% local rice: 40% millet: 10% pumpkin pulp: 15% soybean) and they followed the same trend. The result of the sensory properties revealed that the Tom Brown samples were generally accepted by the panelists. It can be concluded that acceptable and nutrient rich Tom Brown could be produced from the composite flour formulation.