Asian Food Science Journal

Food is necessary for growth and health. Carbohydrate protein and fat are three main type of macronutrients. Vitamins and minerals are two main micronutrients. All macro and micro nutrients should be taken in ample and balanced amount. Any one taken in large amount or low nutrition can cause disease or malnutrition.

Overeating and high calorie diet cause high risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia, cancer, Liver disease, lower energy balance, stone in kidney and gall bladder and also Respiratory diseases.

Comparative account of Nutritional values of Oryza sativa and Echinochola colona are discussed in the present paper. Oryza sativa is staple food used in East India, North India and South India. West India (Specially Rajasthan) Triticum aestivum, Pennisetum glaucum, Sorgum bicolor, Hordeum vulgare, Cicer arietinum are taken as food. During fast Echinochola colona, Fagopyrum tataricum, Amaranthus, Eleocharis dulcis are taken. Comparative studies of nutritional values of Oryza sativa and Echinochola colona are done in the present paper.

Indian Himalayan saints observe fast and eat selected food during fast. These saints are disease free and live long life. Now a days world is suffering from diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, dementia and Corona virus. Vegetarian diet, increases immunity can be solution to some extant to these microbial infection problems.

Composite flour production and utilization in Nigeria and globally is on the increase. This is to take advantage of its nutritional and health benefits at the same time increase the food value of certain cereals and tubers. This study was designed to evaluate the antinutrients and bioavailability of nutrients in maize, cassava and soybeans composite flour. Maize, cassava and soybean flours were composite at 70:25:5, 70:20:10, 70:15:15 and 70:10:20 blends while whole maize (100:0:0) and maize/cassava (70:30:0) blends served as controls. The result showed that substitution of cassava flour with dehulled soybeans elevated the mineral contents of maize, cassava and soybeans composite flour. It, however, decreased the anti-nutritional contents of the flour. Phytate, tannins, oxalates and cyanide contents of the composite flour were within the recommended safe ranges. The molar ratios of the phytate/Ca, phytate/Fe, phytate/Zn and Oxalate/Ca were far below their critical values. This implies that the bioavailability of these critical mineral elements of this composite flour is high. It was, therefore, recommended that the use of soybeans in composite flour production should be encouraged to boost the nutritional and health quality of our local flours.

The objectives of this study were to produce complementary foods from locally available, underutilized and inexpensive food materials (breadfruit and soybean), to assess their nutrients value and evaluate their sensory acceptability. Breadfruit and soybean flours were mixed in ratios 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30 and 60:40 (w/w) respectively. Proximate and mineral compositions of the blends were determined using standard analytical methods; energy value was estimated using the Atwater factor. The blends were prepared for sensory evaluation by cooking with the addition of vegetable oil and sucrose and then subjected to sensory evaluation using a commercial complementary food as control. The crude protein, crude fat, ash and crude fiber contents increased significantly with increased inclusion of soybean flour from 5.36 to 22.02 g/100 g, 1.03 to 6.03 g/100 g, 1.06 to 2.55 g/100 g and 4.77 to 5.86 g/100 g respectively while carbohydrate content reduced from 81.81 to 55.24 g/100 g. The energy value ranged from 357.97 to 363.31 kcal/100 g. The samples contained 66.74 - 76.50 mg/100 g sodium, 687.43 – 725.65 mg/100 g potassium, 64.00 – 103.04 mg/100 g calcium, 145.76 – 242.51 mg/100 g phosphorus, 4.80 – 9.98 mg/100 g iron and 3.18 – 4.61 mg/100 g zinc. The result of the sensory evaluation showed that 70:30 complementary food was the most preferred and acceptable in terms of all the sensory attributes evaluated and it compared favourably with the control. This sample also showed a promising capacity to meet the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) of protein, carbohydrate, potassium, phosphorus, iron and zinc for infants (7 -12 months). This study has shown that complementary food produced from breadfruit and soybean flour has appreciable nutritional density in terms of proximate and mineral compositions and could be used as a substitute for expensive commercial complementary foods especially among families with low income in Nigeria and other developing countries of the world.

The aim of study to produce high quality, nutritional value, sensory and rheological properties toast bread from doum fruit powder DFP and wheat flour WF. Four toast were prepared; by substituting wheat flour with 0, 10, 20 and 30% by doum fruit powder (DFP). The chemical, caloric value, physical and sensory properties of toast bread were studied. The results showed that addition of DFP to WF at different proportion due to an increase in water absorption (%), dough softening (B.U), dough development (min) and water holding capacity. Meanwhile, extensibility(mm) decreased in all doughs of DFP (10, 20 and 30%). Energy was decreased by addition of DFP at levels of 20 and 30% of DFP were (15 and 20 cm²), respectively. The results showed that increasing the levels of replacement increased ether extract, ash and crude fiber contents in prepared toast bread compared with control. Minerals of the prepared toast bread showed an increased in Ca, K, Mg and Fe while slightly decreased in P and Mn with increasing the proportions of replacement. The sensory evaluation results showed a significantly increase in the taste, odor, crumb grain and crumb texture by increasing the DFP substitution comparing with control.  Meanwhile, crust color, appearance and overall acceptability decreased than control.

Aims: To compare the proximate composition and sensory properties of some composite flour mix meals. This is to show which combination has higher nutritional value and is more palatable for consumption.

Study Design: Experimental and observational.

Place and Duration of Study: University of Calabar, Calabar - Nigeria. July to September, 2019.

Methodology: The samples were purchased from the market, washed, dried, and milled under proper sanitary conditions. The flours were then formulated by weight (1:1) and thoroughly milled together giving 3 composite flour mixes of guinea corn-millet, unripe plantain-cabbage and corn-cassava flour. These were made into meals (pastes) by boiling in hot water using standard procedures. Proximate analysis was carried using standard AOAC methods while the sensory evaluation was done by 20 semi-trained panelists using a 9-point hedonic scale. Statistical analyses of results were carried out using Statistical Package for Social Sciences and significance was accepted at p< 0.05.

Results: Unripe plantain-cabbage flour mix had significantly higher content of protein, fat, ash, carbohydrate and consequently calories, while maize-cassava flour mix had the lowest content of fat and calories. The carbohydrate content of the 3 composite flours ranged from 24.23 to 27.45 KCal/100 g with guinea corn-millet flour mix having the least value. All 3 composite flour mixes were observed to be of good nutritional value.

Conclusion: Unripe plantain-cabbage flour mix and guinea corn-millet flour mix is recommended as a healthier alternative to excessively starchy swallows of low nutrient quality. Also, maize-cassava flour mix may be useful in the management of diabetes and obesity as it had lower caloric value and fat with good protein content and moderate carbohydrate. Generally, the 3 mixes had good acceptability, hence composite flour formulations made of indigenous foods should be encouraged since the combinations are not only palatable but of better nutrient quality than single flours.