ABSTRACT

Garri is one of the most popular fermented foods made from cassava and eaten in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. Four samples were derived and comparative study on the proximate composition, mineral content, vitamin content, antinutrient composition, physical/functional properties and sensory evaluation was done to ascertain the nutritional quality of the fortified garri samples using standard methods described by Association of Official Analytical Chemist. The results revealed that the inclusion of soybean, coconut and palm oil significantly (P< 0.05) influenced the nutrient composition of the garri samples. Moisture content ranged from (9.25 to 10.83%), crude protein (1.27 to 11.52%), crude fibre (1.21 to 1.91), fat content (1.06 to 14.29), ash content (0.62 to 2.47%), carbohydrate content (86.60 to 59.70%) and energy value (360.98 to 413.41). sample C had highest value in all proximate composition except for carbohydrate and sample D had the lowest value except for carbohydrate. The mineral content ranged from Calcium (2.15 to 15.81 rng/100g), Sodium(0.83 to 11.51mg/b0g), Magnesium (3.81 to 9.27mg/l00g), Phosphorus (3.48 to 9.17mg/b0g), Potassium (0.64 to 16.21mg/b0g), Iron (0.22 to 2.83mg/bOg) and Zinc (0.41 to 1.82mg/bOg). Sample C had the highest content of all mineral analyzed and sample D had the lowest except for Magnesium where Sample A had the lowest. •The vitamin content were vitamin A (19.42 to 201.42.Ig/100g), vitamin B1(0.12 to 0.3lmg/lOOg), vitamin B2 (0.26 to 0.52rhg/lOog), vitamin B3 (0.31 to 0.92mg/lOOg), vitamin C (6.11 to 10.28mg/bOg) and vitamin E ( 0.17 to 0.52mg/bOg) with sample C having the highest score in all vitamin analyzed and sample D with the lowest score. The antinutrient contents were tannin (0.28 to 0.57mg/bOg), alkaloid (0.11 to 0.48), flavonoid (0.41 to 0.72mg/bOg), saponin (0.16 to 0.47mg/lOOg), phytate (0.02 to 0.23mg/bOg) and hydrogen cyanide (16.44 to 7.32mg/kg) with sample C having the highest value in all the antinutrient analyzed and sample D having the lowest value except for hydrogen cyanide where sample D had the highest value and sample C the lowest value. The physical/functional properties content were bulk density (0.72 to 0.84g/rnl), water absorption capacity (1.07 to 1.56g/g), oil absorption capacity (1.61 to 2.42g/g), foam capacity (21.66 to 31.61%) with sample D having the highest value and sample C with the least value, foam stability (19.04 to 22.15%) with sample A having the lowest value and sample D with the highest value swelling index (2.05 to 4.81%) with sample D having the highest value and sample C the least value and gelation temperature (70.3 to 78.62°C), with sample C having the least value and sample D the highest value. The sensory evaluation rating showed significant difference in terms of colour, texture, taste, aroma and general acceptability. Sample A and B shared highest in general acceptability and could be to differences in the processing methods employed for the production of the gari samples.