ABSTRACT

 The nutritional properties ofinstantfufu flour made from cassava root and cocoyam tuber Hour blends were evaluated. Cassava root and cocoyam tuber were processed into flours using traditional methods. These flours were used to formulate instant fufu flour by blending them in the ratios of 100:0, 0:100, 40:60, 50:50 and 90:10, respectively. The resulting products were subjected to sensory evaluation using 9-point hedonic scale while the functional properties as well as the proximate composition , texture profile, glycemic index and carbohydrate digestibility of the samples were determined using standard analytical methods. The sensory acceptability ofthe formulated instantfufu significantly (p < 0.05) decreased with increasing substitution of cassava with cocoyam flour. The values recorded for functional properties of samples were 0.65 to 0.73 g/ml for bulk density. 2.65 to 3.47 g/g for water absorption capacity, 0.74 to 1.86 g/g for oil absorption capacity, 9.21 to 10.61 % for solubility, and 1.78 to 1.95 for swelling index. The result of the proximate composition of samples ranged from for 9.84 to 11.62 % for moisture, 88.38 to 90.16 %for dry matter, 1.54 to 2.29 % for ash, 2.35 to protein, 1.34 to 1.83 % for crude fibre. 0.43 to 1.26 % for crude fat and 76.57 to 83.44 % for carbohydrates. The glycemic index ranged from 43.20 to 60.40 for area under the curve and 55.38 to 77.46 for glycemic index. The carbohydrate digestibility result ranged from 1.85 to 2.95mg/100g for rapidly digestible starch and 56.68 to 61.41 g/lOOgfor slowly digestible starch. The texture profile ranged from 32.81 to 60.25 N/m2 for hardness, 0.52 to 1.08 for strcchability, 25.60 to 54.72 N/m2 for adhesiveness, 0.49 to 0.93 for foidability and 24.65 to 48.31N/m2 for gumminess. Improvement on the sensory qualities through modification ofthe product is recommended.