ABSTRACT

Instant cocoyam soup mixes were produced. The functional and proximate properties of the soup ingredients were determined. The results obtained showed that in terms of moisture content, no significant difference (P~0.05) existed among the ingredients. In terms of ash content, the cocoyam flour (1.90%), meat (2.07%), and pepper (2.65%) showed no significant difference (P~0.05). The carbohydrate content of the cocoyam flour (6.57%) and that of the dried bitter leaf (6.73%) showed no significant difference (P~0.05) while that of meat (1.30%) and pepper (0.87%) did not differ significantly (P~0.05) . crude fat content of the cocoyam flour (0.12%) and that of pepper (0.00%) showed no significant difference (P~0 .05). The ingredients differed significantly (P~0 .05) in terms of protein, but the dried bitter leaf (0.24%) and pepper (0. 17%) showed no significant difference. The functional properties carried out showed that all bulk density, oil absorption capacity, water absorption capacity, and gelation capacity showed no significant difference (P~0.05). The sensory evaluation carried out on the instant soup using the conventional soup as a control showed that among the sensory characteristics assessed; only colour and freshness differed significantly. The free fatty acid test carried out showed that the soup mix with oil (8.3 1) differed significantly (P~0.05) from the soup mix without oil (5.0). The peroxide value test showed that no significant difference existed between the two soup mixes for three weeks.