ABSTRACT

 Cakes were baked from wheat flour using different preservatives: ginger, ascorbic acid, alcohol and calcium propionate at concentration of 1 g, 2 g, 3 g to 100 g of flour. A combination of ascorbic acid and calcium propionate (1:1 w/w) was also used and a control (without preservative). Analyses carried out were proximate analysis, sensory evaluation and microbiological analysis. The proximate analysis result showed that moisture content was highest in baked cake with ginger (11.79 %). There was a significant difference (P ~ 0.05) in the moisture content of the baked cake with different preservatives. Calcium propionate has the highest dry matter content (89.77%), while ginger has the lowest (88.2 1%). Ash content ranged from 1.14 % for untreated cake to 1.58 % for baked cake with calcium propionate. There was no significant difference (P~0.05) in ash content of the different preservatives. There was a significant difference (P ~ 0.05) in fibre content of the cake samples. Alcohol sample showed highest fat content (18.23 %) while untreated has the least (15.96 %). Protein content was higher in calcium propionate cake (10.27%) and lower in untreated sample (9.11 %), which also 4 has the highest carbohydrate content. The sensory evaluation showed that all the baked cakes were accepted by the panelists except ascorbic acid treated sample. The microbial analysis demonstrated the presence of Lactobacillus lactis and Monilia sitophili. The shelf life of the untreated and treated samples ranged between 2-14 days, in which the combination of calcium propionate and ascorbic acid sample stayed longer. The study showed that the cakes were of good quality and the microbial loads were lower than the recommended limit by International Commission of Microbiology specification for foods.