Abstract
In the midst of high wheat grain prices, the use of cassava flour for bakery products is being promoted though the very low protein content of cassava is of some concern. The objectives were to evaluate the physico-chemical and sensory characteristics of muffins baked from high quality wheat/cassava/soy composite flours. The M Mex 59 cassava tubers were processed into flour. Three composite flour blends were prepared with 40%, 50% and 60% cassava flour and 10% soy flour. Physico-chemical analysis and sensory evaluation by focus group and hedonic scoring were conducted on muffins from each of the composite flour blends and 100% wheat flour as the control muffin. The protein content, moisture, ash, texture, muffin height and colour of the muffins were measured. Results showed that the protein content of the composite flour was significantly affected by the addition of cassava flour and soy flour. Muffin colour progressively darkened as cassava flour level increased. Changes in the muffin height were not significantly different (P>0.05). Increasing cassava flour levels resulted in a reduction of the hardness (mm/3 sec) of the muffins from 9.00 to 14.57 with substitution of 50% of cassava flour. From the focus group evaluation, the muffins from composite blend 50% wheat/40% cassava/ 10% soy were most preferred and were significantly different for taste (P<0.01) and after-taste(P<0.05).
