ABSTRACT

D-optimal mixture design fitted into second order response surface methodology (RSM) model was adopted for the optimization of cocoa based ready to use therapeutic food. The ready to use therapeutic food were prepared according to the fourteen runs generated from the mixture design and subjected to sensory evaluation for acceptability. The experiment was based on three factors which were the mixture ingredients cocoa(Xi ), corn(X2) and bambara nut(X3). The effect of these mixture components and their interactions on the responses; fat, protein, carbohydrate, energy, taste, texture, flavour, appearance and general acceptability were investigated. Analysis of data generated from optimization revealed that ready to use therapeutic food prepared from 600/o cocoa, 20% corn and 20% Bambara nut had the highest lat, protein and energy (34.2g. ii .37g and 539.92kca1/g) respectively. The sensory evaluation also revealed that ready to use therapeutic food prepared from 60% cocoa, 20% corn and 20% Bambara nut had the highest mean score of 7.48 in taste (like very much), 7.6 in texture (like very much), 7.6 in flavour (like very much), 7.72 in appearance (like very much) and 7.48 in general acceptability (like very much). Antinutrient determination and functional properties were carried out on the optimized product. Phytate (0.025mg/100g), tannin (6.20mg/100g), bulk density (0.47g!ml), water and oil absorption capacity (1 .94g/ml and 2. 16g!ml) respectively.