ABSTRACT

Quality properties of cocoyam-wheat flour noodles spiced with uziza seeds was evaluated. Noodles were processed from different flour blends (100:0, 50:50, 60:40, 70:30 and 80:20) of wheat and cocoyam. Noodles made with 100% wheat flour served as the control. Functional properties of the flour blends, proximate composition and antinutrient content of the noodles were evaluated using standard laboratory procedures whereas nine point Hedonic scale was used to evaluate the sensory properties of the noodles spiced with uziza seeds powder. The data generated were statistically analysed by One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using Statistical Product of Service Solution (Version 22.0). The functional properties of the flour blends ranged from 2.02 to 8.52 g/ml, 0.68 to 0.73 g/ml, 3.94 to 11.52 %, 10.11 to 11.17 %, 11.02 to 12.82 %, 0.54 to 0.80 Sec, 60.02 to 72.04 °C and 59.00 to 62.76 Sec for water absorption capacity, bulk density, foam capacity, foam stability, emulsion capacity, wettability, gelatinization temperature and gelatinization time, respectively. The result of proximate composition showed that the noodles had 8.14 to 10.09 % moisture, 7.98 to 12.41 % crude protein, 0.74 to 0.82 % fat, 0.96 to 1.15 % crude fibre, 1.37 to 3.15 % ash, 74.14 to 78.90 % carbohydrate and 352.94 to 355.35 Kcal/100g energy value. The antinutrient content of the noodles ranged from 0.92 to 2.92 mg/100g, 0.03 to 0.49 mg/100g, 0.25 to 0.48 mg/100g and 0.49 to 0.63 mg/100g phytate, saponin, tannin and lectin, respectively. The sensory properties of the noodles spiced with uziza seeds powder varied in appearance (4.40 to 7.45), taste (5.05 to 6.90), texture (5.25 to 6.95), mouth-feel (5.45 to 7.35) and general acceptability (4.60 to 7.35) with uziza seeds spiced noodles from wheat:cocoyam (100:0) being the most preferred followed by uziza seeds spiced noodles from wheat:cocoyam (50:50).