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The toasting variables of three women and the effect on the quality of gari was evaluated. Their toasting time, stirring time, resting time, and manual energy consumption was recorded. The gari toasted by the three women were compared for the chemical composition, pasting properties, functional properties, and particle size distribution. The data obtained were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and means separated using Duncan's multiple range test at p < 0.05 significance. Cassava mash introduced per time ranged between 0.70 and 1.17 kg. The time of introduction of the cassava mash was different for the different women. The toasting time was highest for woman 2 (21.40 min) followed by woman 3 (19.33 min) while woman 1 had the shortest toasting time (17.21 min). The dry matter content of the gari samples ranged from 83.59% (gari from woman 1) to 87.49% (gari from woman 3). The Hydrogen cyanide content of the gari samples ranged from 16.91 to 17.17 mg/kg with the gari toasted by woman 1 having the lowest hydrogen cyanide content. The gari sample toasted by woman 1 had the highest peak viscosity (451.40 RVU). The swelling index of the gari samples toasted by the three women varied significantly (p < 0.05). Woman 1’s gari had the largest particle size (50.66% retained in 850 µm sieve) while woman 2’s gari had the lowest particle size (25.79% retained in 850 µm sieve). The study revealed that the toasting variables of the different women introduced some variations in the particle size, swelling index, and pasting properties of the gari samples. Practical applications Data generated from this work will be of use to those working on the fabrication of gari toasting machine. This will help them to understand the gari toasting process. It will also be useful in the standardization of the gari production process.

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Most snacks are prepared from basically cereal flours which are nutritionally inadequate. There is the need to complement the nutrient content of these snacks by varying the food sources. Chin-chin snacks were produced from composite flours of Maize, soybean and OFSP with the following formation; sample A (50%: 25%: 25%), B (25%: 25%: 50%), C (25%: 50%: 25%), D (0%: 50%: 50%) and E (50%: 50%: 0%). Wheat flour (100%) served as the control F. The flour bends were analysed for functional properties while the chin-chin snacks were analysed for their nutrient and sensory qualities. The result of functional properties of the flours showed that bulk density of wheat flour (F) was the highest (0.746 g/ml). OFSP flour enhanced the water absorption capacity of the flour blends. Flour blends with soybean recorded higher values in foam capacity (11.20 - 22.55%). In proximate composition, the moisture was low (3.80 – 4.80%) in the chin-chin. Higher fibre content (2.60 - 4.20%) was obtained in samples containing higher proportion (50%) of OFSP. Samples D (19.38%) and C (18.80%) with higher soybean, recorded higher protein values. The mineral and the vitamin contents of snacks from composite flours were higher than that of the control F. Vitamin B1, B2, B3 and β-carotene contents of the snacks were enhanced by OFSP. The sensory evaluation showed preference for snack F (100% wheat flour) followed by snack A (50% maize, 25% soybean and 25% OFSP). However, improved nutrient dense chin-chin snacks were produced from the composite flours.

The study was carried out to assess the nutritional quality and palatability of bread after partially substituting wheat flour (WF) with sweet potato (SF) and tiger nut (TF) flours. Sweet potato (yellow fleshed) and tiger nut flours were used to substitute wheat flour at 5, 10, 15 and 20% level each. The bread quality of each of these composite flours evaluated on the basis of their nutritional quality, physical properties and acceptability by consumers. The findings indicate slight decrease in the protein content of the bread samples with increasing sweet potato and tiger nut supplementation (6.97% in 100% wheat flour to 3.80% in 20% level of substitution) while crude fibre content increased with increased sweet potato and tiger nut substitution (2.29% in 100% WF to 2.80% in 20% substitution) but there was no significant change (<0.05) in the ash and fat contents. Carbohydrate which was the major component ranged from 73.47 – 79.42%. Findings on the study on the functional properties showed that water absorption capacity increases with increase in the level of sweet potato and tiger nut substitution (0.54g/ml in 100% WF to 1.12g/ml in 20% level of substitution). The loaf volume and specific volume of the bread samples decreased significantly with increase in the level of substitution with sweet potato and tiger nut and it ranged from 320cm3 (in 100% wheat flour) – 216cm3 (in 20% substitution) and 1.55cm3/g (in 100% wheat flour) to 0.98cm3/g (in 20% level of substitution) respectively. Bread from 100% wheat flour scored the highest in all the sensory properties evaluated. There was no significant difference between the control and bread from 5% level of substitution in terms of all the sensory parameters evaluated however bread from higher levels of substitution varied significantly with the control. All the bread samples were acceptable in all the parameters evaluated except bread from 20% level of substitution. The study concludes the potential health and sensory benefits of partial substitution of sweet potato and tiger nut to wheat flour in bread making through improved fibre content, improved taste and to promote sweet potato and tiger nut utilization.

The development of functional foods to promote health is currently of global relevance. Prebiotics are food ingredients that exert beneficial health effects on the host by stimulating the growth of probiotics. This work examined the potential of brown rice in the production of probiotic beverage (PB) inoculated with Lactobacillus acidophilus and Streptococcus thermophillus. The beverage quality and probiotic viability were evaluated over 4 weeks storage and compared with a control beverage (CB) which was produced without inoculation. The physicochemical analyzes result showed viscosity of PB (601-1200 cp) to be higher than CB (500-550 cp). The specific gravity of PB (0.99-1.90) was not significantly different from CB (1.00-1.92). The % Brix increased more in PB (6.10-7.00) than in CB (4.90-6.50). There was more reduction in pH in a probiotic beverage (5.32-4.77) than in the control (6.21-5.96). The total microbial count at the end of fermentation ranged from 3.3 × 10 8 to 4.1 × 10 9 CFU/ml for PB and 1.0 × 10 1 to 3.3 × 10 3 CFU/ml for the control sample CB. There were no detectable fungi and coliform growths in the probiotic sample (PB). However, a range of 1.1 × 10 1 to 4.2 × 10 3 CFU/ml fungi and <1.0 × 10 1 CFU/ml coliforms were observed in the control (CB). Lactobacillus acidophilus (5.0 × 10 6 to 2.9 × 10 7) CFU/ml proliferated more compared to Streptococcus thermophillus (2.0 × 10 5 to 3.2 × 10 6) CFU/ml in the probiotic sample (PB) but lagged in the control sample (CB). The beverages differed significantly (p ≥ 0.05) with respect to overall sensory acceptability. The inoculated beverage (PB) showed better acceptance than the non-fermented beverage (CB). At the end of 4 weeks of evaluation, the inoculated brown rice beverage was able to support high probiotic cell viability which confirms its prebiotic potential.

Wheat flour (WF) was substituted with germinated Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) flour (GBF) at different proportions (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%) and used in the preparation of bread. The dough mixing, pasting, and gelatinization properties of the blends were evaluated as well as the nutritional quality, in vitro starch digestibility, phytochemical constituents, antioxidant potential, color, texture, and sensory properties of breads. All the wheat dough containing GBF had higher water absorption capacity, gelatinization temperatures, dough development time, low peak, and setback viscosities. The composite breads had significantly higher dietary fiber, minerals, protein digestibility, corrected amino acid scores, resistant starch, slowly digestible starch, total phenolics, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activities and caused significant reduction in rapidly digestible starch content. The addition of up to 15% GBF had no significant impact on the specific volume of wheat bread. Substitution of WF with GBF influenced color and texture properties of bread.Wheat bread supplemented with 20% GBF had significantly higher scores in This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.