ABSTRACT

Production, quality and sensory attributes of bread from wheat flour enriched with orange flesh sweet potato and eggshells, and partial substitution of margarine with avocado pear pulp was studied. The wheat, orange fleshed sweet potato and egg shell were processed into flour and blended in the ratios of85% Wheat: 10% OFSP: 5% Egg shell. The composite flour was subjected to functional properties analysis. Pear pulp was extracted from fruit and substituted into margarine in different formulations ratios of 80:20, 50:50 and 20:80. These formulations were used to produce 3 samples of composite bread. A 100% margarine bread from 100% wheat flour served as the control. The bread samples were subjected to physical, mineral, antioxidant, proximate, vitamin, phytochemical and sensory evaluation analyses using standard methods. The functional properties ofthe flour samples revealed that the composite flour had 0.86 g/ml BD, 1.29 g/g WAC, 1.09 g/g OAC, 22.42% FC, 13.03% FS, 1.68 g/g solubility index (SI) and 75.11 °C gelatinization temperature (GT). Physical properties ofthe bread samples showed variations in weight (208.32 to 218.35 g), thickness (2.46 to 3.45 cm), specific volume (1.72 to 3.16 cm3/g), and density (0.32 to 0.59 g/cm3), with improved loafvolume and structure in samples with more avocado pulp. The mineral composition ofthe bread samples ranged from 18.55 to 60.33 mg/lOOg calcium, 4.83 to 9.93 mg/lOOg sodium, 16.32 to 69.47 mg/lOOg magnesium, 59.03 to 106.74 mg/lOOg phosphorus, 81.32 to 98.67 mg/lOOg potassium, 2.07 to 2.87 mg/lOOg iron, 0.82 to 1.66 mg/lOOg zinc, and 0.82 to 1.41 mg/100g manganese. Antioxidant activity results showed that DPPH ranged from 28.44% to 69.86%, FRAP from 41.82 to 226.14 mmol TE/lOOg, and ABTS from 23.05 to 86.31 mmol TE/lOOg. In terms of proximate composition, moisture content ranged from 26.93% to 32.65%, protein from 7.86% to 10.14%, fiber from 1.15% to 2.55%, fat from 5.24% to 9.57%, ash from 1.90% to 2.42%, carbohydrate from 44.97% to 54.65%, and energy value from 297.43 to 306.36 kcal. The vitamin composition ofthe bread samples ranged from 0.22 to 48.73 pg/lOOg for vitamin A, 0.25 to 0.39 mg/lOOg for vitamin Bl, 0.28 to 0.36 mg/lOOg for vitamin B2, 2.85 to 3.64 mg/lOOg for vitamin B3, 0.14 to 9.37 mg/lOOg for vitamin C, and 1.13 to 2.11 mg/lOOg for vitamin E. The phytochemical composition ranged from 0.34 to 1.28 mg/100g for alkaloids, 0.22 to 0.66 mg/100g for phytates, 0.15 to 0.63 mg/100g for saponins, 1.83 to 2.56 mg/100g for tannins, 6.05 to 13.65 mg/lOOg for vitamin C, and 90.16 to 114.52 mg/lOOg for vitamin E. The sensory evaluation scores showed ranges of 5.16 to 7.16 for appearance, 4.36 to 6.36 for taste, 5.04 to 6.16 for aroma, 3.88 to 4.76 for mouthfeel, 5.36 to 6.28 for texture, and 4.84 to 5.72 for general acceptability, with the formulation containing 50% margarine and 50% avocado pulp having the highest acceptability scores (5.72). The study revealed that incorporating functional ingredients such as pear pulp, OFSP, and eggshell flour into bread can significantly improve its nutritional and sensory qualities and should be encouraged in bread baking