Production And Evaluation Of Complementary Food Using Plantain (Musaparasidiaca) And African Breadfruit (Treculia Africana)

ABSTRACT

This research project was carried out to formulate a complementary food using blends of unripe, firmly ripe plantain and African breadfruit. The blends were of different proportions (70:30, 50:50, 1:1:1) and were subjected to proximate analysis to determine their nutrient composition, the were also subjected to functional analysis to determine their physical properties and finally to sensory evaluation to determine preference in colour, taste, texture, aroma and general acceptability of the different samples using nutrient as a control. Result of proximate analysis reveals that protein content of the samples ranged from 8.14 to 13.71, Carbohydrate content ranged from 70.28 to 75.95, crude fibre from 1.20 to 1.31, fat content ranged from 1.16 to 1.75, ash form 2.42 to 3.55 and finally moisture content from 10.18 to 11.34. the results of functional analysis shows that water absorption capacity ranges from 1.63 to 2.09, oil absorption capacity from 1.22 to 1.89, bulk density from 0.63 to 0.67, swelling index from 1.16 to 1.34 and finally gelation temperature from 75°C to 88°C. Sensory evaluation results show that apart from the control, sample D (50:50) ripe plantain flour and breadfruit ranked next in all the parameters.