Evaluation of Sensory Attributes of Complementary Meals made from Malted Yellow Maize (Zea mays L.) and Sprouted Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) Flour Blends available in South Western Nigeria

Abstract

The need to measure, analyze and interpret the reactions of people to complementary food products as perceived by their senses is important. This will provide valid and reliable information to the research, production and marketing departments in order for the management team to make sound business decisions about the perceived sensory properties of the complementary food product(s). This study evaluated the sensory attributes of complementary meals made from malted yellow maize (Zea mays L.) and sprouted cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) flour blends using standard methods on a 5-point hedonic scale ratings with 105 trained adult female evaluators. The mean scores ranges sensory evaluation attributes were appearance (3.58 to 4.24), taste (3.58 to 4.34), consistency (3.76 to 4.04), smell (3.47 to 4.12) and overall acceptability (3.31 to 4.20) of produced complementary food. ANOVA revealed a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the appearance (F = 8.82), taste (F = 10.24), smell (F = 6.53) and overall acceptability (F = 8.19) of the complementary food produced. The study concluded that the diets prepared from the sample with 20% sprouted cowpea and 80% malted yellow maize flours substitution had better acceptability than the other test samples. Therefore, the need to exploit the positive attributes of quality cowpea and yellow maize without compromising its general acceptability as this will at the end, contribute to the improvement of health and nutrition right from childhood.