Physico-Chemical Quality of Processed Nutrient-Dense Garri (NDG) from Pro-Vitamin A Cassava and Soybean

Abstract

Garri is a popular and commonly consumed staple food in Nigeria especially among the Eastern and Southern Nigerians. It is nutritionally inadequate with main nutrient as carbohydrate. We examined the potential of yellow cassava fortification with soybean in the production of Nutrient dense garri (NDG) to improve nutrient quality of garri. Garri from three geographical locations in Nigeria serve as control. The Hydrogen cyanide (HCN), pH, and carotene content of the pro-vitamin A cassava decreased with processing. General linear model analysis of the functional properties returned F(11, :0.05) = 24175.5, 5.12, 7.51, 9.43, 7.45 and 346.30 that are all significant for pH, TTA, loose bulk density, packed bulk density, swelling capacity and gelatinous capacity respectively. Fermented NDG has the least mean HCN, the highest carotene and protein while unfermented NDG contained highest fat, fibre, ash and minerals. The study concluded and recommended fortification of yellow flesh cassava with soybean in garri processing to reduce malnutrition