ABSTRACT

Flours and starches were obtained from forty-four Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD) resistant varieties recently developed by the International institute of Tropical Agriculture (IlTA). The cassava roots were peeled, washed, grated and dewatered. The dewatered cake was broken into pieces by hand and dried using sun drying and oven drying techniques. The dried flours were milled and sieved to obtain the cassava flour. The starch samples were prepared by peeling, washing, grating, screcning, sedirnenting and drying and the dried cake milled and sieved. The flours and starches obtained were evaluated (analyzed) for functional properties and cyanide content. Water absorption capacity of the flour samples ranged from 1.050 to 1.350m1/g. The oil absorption capacity of the flour samples ranged from 1.350 to 1 .950rn11g. The water absorption capacity of the starch samples ranged from 0.650 to 0.950m1/g. The oil absorption capacity of the starch samples ranged from 1.100 to 1 .450mn1/g. The loose bulk density and the packed bulk density of the flour samples were 0.3687 — 0.4961g/ml and 0.5357 — 0.7837g/rnl respectively. The loose bulk density and packed bulk density of the starch samples were 0.4842 — 0.5493 and 0.6511-0.7465 respectively. The swelling index of the flour samples was 1.247 — 1 .460m1/g. The wettability of the flour samples was 1 7.00-40.00sec. The swelling index of the starch samples was 1.303 — 1.430. The wettability of the starch samples was 21.00 — 39.00scc. The emulsion activity of the flour and starch samples ranged from 45.97 to 52.07% and 41.03 to 49.00% respectively. The HCN content of the flour samples ranged from 2.10 to 7.87ppm. The pH of the flour samples ranged from 4.87 to 7.77. The HCN of the starch samples ranged from 1.40 to 3.20ppm. The pH of the starch samples ranged from 6.01 to 8.39. The result of the functional properties and cyanide content show that there were significant differences among the cultivars. However, the cyanide content of all the flours and starches are within the safe limit and therefore, is safe for human consumption.