Production of mandazi from wheat partially substituted with OFSP puree.

Abstract

Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) is a biofortified crop rich in provitamin A carotenoid. OFSP puree has been used as a major ingredient in processing of products. However, partial replacement or substitution of wheat during making mandazi and product handling affects the quality of the final product and therefore the need for the current study to determine the quality and shelf-life of OFSP puree-wheat flour composite mandazi contingent to consumer handling practices. This study involved determining sensory acceptance and willingness to pay for the OFSP puree-wheat flour composite mandazi, the physiochemical properties and the shelf life of OFSP puree-wheat flour composite mandazi. Sensory acceptance and willingness for the 2 mandazi samples (20% and 30% mashed OFSP puree-wheat flour composite mandazi was determined through the sensory evaluation analysis accompanied with analysis for the best consumed and best formulated sample, physiochemical properties that is to say proximate parameters (moisture content, ash content, fibre content, carbohydrates and protein content), beta carotene and peroxide vale were determined through use of the AOAC, 2000 procedures well as the shelf life for the samples was determined through microbial analysis of the samples for Total Plate Count (TPC), Yeast, E-Coli and Staph using ISO: 2127-2 procedure. From the results, after sensory evaluation, sample 432 (mashed 30% OFSP puree) was the most acceptable product hence taken for proximate composition and microbial analysis. Use of 30% mashed OFSP puree in mandazi making improved the quality of mandazi as the puree-wheat flour composite mandazi exhibited desirable levels for the moisture content of 1.4% similar with the mandazi on market, higher starch content of 78.5% compared to that control (76.8%) hence energy giving recipe and slightly high crude fat content of 8.4% compared to 8.1% for the control sample therefore can be eaten by every person. However, the 30% mashed OFSP puree mandazi had low fiber content (3.8%) but was nutritionally beneficial as it contained higher amounts of β-carotene which meet the dietary requirements of the consumers. Also, due to the low microbial growth, 30% mashed OFSP puree mandazi has a longer shelf-life compared to the mandazi made from 100%. Determination of current consumer demographic, knowledge, handling practices and further study on the use of specific varieties of OFSP in wheat substitution was highly recommended for the study.