ABSTRACT

Mayonnaise is an oil-in-water emulsion rich in calorie, micronutrients and fatsoluble vitamins which is produced from dominantly vegetable oil. Peanut, soybean and cowpea oil are highly unsaturated oil, domestically and commercially underutilized with tonnage of postharvest losses at their seed stage. It presently, has little or no industrial attraction for use as commercial ingredient for food production and formulation. The aim therefore is to improve the commercial value of peanut, soybean and cowpea oil for use as a main ingredient in food applications, hence improving its utilization and reducing postharvest losses. Oil was extracted from the above named legumes through Soxhlet extraction using n-hexane as the solvent and the extracted oil was used individually; SBOA (Soybean oil mayonnaise), PEOB (Peanut oil mayonnaise), CPOC (Cowpea oil mayonnaise) and CTRL (Control) for the production of mayonnaise. Some proximate, physicochemical, phytochemical, microbial and sensory properties were also evaluated properties of the mayonnaise samples in the produced mayonnaise. Sample PEOB had the highest value for virtually all proximate characteristics such as 19.40 % for moisture, 8.40 % for protein, and 39.12 % fat content. Sample CPOC will have the longest shelf life owing to its least value of moisture content (15.25 %) and its high acidic value of 6.56. On an average basis, sample PEOB had the highest Total Phenolic and Flavonoid content with 3.39 mg/lOOg and 4.93 mg/lOOg with notable significant difference among samples (p<0.05). The values ranged from 1.5 x IO4 CFU/ml to NG for both Total Bacterial and Coliform Count respectively in the microbial properties. The sensory parameters of the mayonnaise samples increased significantly (p < 0.05). The samples showed great acceptability in the sensory evaluation evident in the satisfactory aroma, taste, appearance, consistency and overall acceptance. Sensory evaluation showed that the mayonnaise samples were generally acceptable by the panelists. Conclusively, peanut, soybean and cowpea oil could be used in the production of acceptable mayonnaise with higher fat, protein, ash, pH, emulsion stability, total phenolic and flavonoid contents, microbial count, and sensory characteristics thereby reducing its postharvest losses through improved utilization.