Proximate Composition And Sensory Evaluation Of Fruit-Legumes Doughnuts Made From Cooking Bananas (Musa Spp), Soybean (Glycine Max) And Dates (Phoenix Dactylifera):- Odo, Charity O

ABSTRACT xi The study evaluated the proximate composition and sensory characteristics of fruit-legumes doughnuts made from cooking bananas (Musa spp), soybean (Glycine max) and dates (Phoenix dactylifera). The soybean and other ingredients such as cooking banana (Musa spp), soyabean, dates (phoenix dactylifera), flour, butter, date, flavours etc were procured from Ndioru Market, Umuahia Abia State. The following objectives were used, process flour from cooking banana (Musa spp), soybean (Glycine max) and dates (Phoenix dactylifera) and formulate the composite blends, produce doughnut from banana (Musa spp), soybean (Glycine max) and dates (Phoenix dactylifera), determine the proximate content ofthe doughnut and evaluate the ' sensory properties of the food products. Experimental design was used for the study to formulate dough nuts into four different proportions. The data was subjected to a one-way ANOVA. While the Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) were used to compare the means of experimental data at 95% confidence (p < 0.05) interval. The result showed that proximate composition ranged from moisture 17.08% to 25.82%, Crude protein from 8.96% to 19.47%, Fat content from 16.04% to 22.12%, Ash content from 0.74% to 2.21%, Crude fiber from 1.19% to 1.75%, Carbohydrate from 38.68% to 52.26% and energy value (389.35 kcal to 426.72 kcal. The sensory evaluation results showed know variation in consumer preference across the combined flour dough nut samples but differ in all parameters in the control sample. In conclusion at all levels of substitution, nutritional analysis of the various composite doughnuts revealed that they have nutritious value that compares favorably to 100% wheat flour doughnuts and commercially available doughnuts. Its functional qualities made it a good candidate for use in composite flour blends. Recommendation, cooking banana and soybean flours have been demonstrated to have high levels of proteins, ash, lipids, and carbohydrates, making them a valuable source ofthese nutrients when used to partially replace wheat flour in cooking