Production and evaluation of breakfast cereals from blends of acha, mung bean and orange fleshed sweet potato

Abstract

The study investigated the production of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals from acha, mung bean and orange fleshed sweet potato flours (from 0% to 100%). The objectives of the study were to produce and evaluate the chemical, microbial and sensory profile ready-to-eat breakfast cereal from blends of acha, fermented mung bean and orange fleshed sweet potato flours. Acha, mung bean and orange fleshed sweet potato were processed into flour. Bulk density and water absorption capacity of acha, mung bean and orange fleshed sweet potato flour were determined. Preliminary studies were carried out to determine the best blend from acha:mung bean flour blends. On inclusion of orange flesh sweet potato, the flour blend for the formulated breakfast cereals, all the samples were subjected to functional, proximate, β-carotene, microbial and sensory analyses using standard procedures. The results showed that the best blend was from 90% acha and 10% mung bean flours for the breakfast cereals. There was an increase in the moisture, ash, fibre and β-carotene content of the breakfast cereals with a corresponding decrease in the protein and fat content as the graded levels of the orange fleshed sweet potato flour added to the blend increased. The addition of the orange flesh improved the 1.24 to 3.04 mg/100 g. There was no mould growth in the formulated ready-to-eat breakfast cereals Keywords: Acha, Flaked breakfast cereals, Mung bean, Orange fleshed sweet potato INTRODUCTION