Article Sidebar
Published:
Apr 30, 2023Keywords:
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
NAJ supports free online communication and exchange of knowledge as the most effective way of ensuring that the fruits of research and development practice are made widely available. It is therefore committed to open access, which, for authors, enables the widest possible dissemination of their findings and, for readers, increases their ability to discover pertinent information. The Journal adopts and uses the CC: BY license and is open access. This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the Journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Copyright for articles published in this Journal is retained by the Journal.
Main Article Content
Study on the Proximate, Pasting and Functional Properties of Yam Flour Enriched with Moringa oleifera Seed Meal Blend
Abstract
Yam is rich in carbohydrates and is made up of other nutrients while Moringa oleifera is rich nutritionally and is a multipurpose plant. A combination of different food crops can boost the nutritional deficiency of one of the crops. Four yam cultivars were processed into flour and moringa seeds were defatted to get moringa seed meal. Their flours and the moringa seed Meal were mixed at different concentrations to form yam/ moringa seed meal. The study investigated proximate, functional and pasting properties of yam flours from (Discorea otundata, Discorea alata, Dioscorea cayenensis and Discorea bulbifera) enriched with Moringa oleifera seed meal. Results of the proximate composition showed that the protein content of the unfortified yam flours ranged from 3.40-4.40% while the Moringa oleifera fortified yam flours had a higher protein content of 4.63-6.20%. The other proximate parameters for both unfortified and fortified yam flours were: moisture content with values of 8.20-9.8 & 9.0-12.10%, crude fibre (1.30-2.75 and 1.90-5.25%), respectively. The inclusion of moringa seed meal brought an increase in the protein content, crude fiber, crude fat and ash content significantly at (P<0.05). However, the carbohydrate decreased significantly. The increase as seen in this study was concentration-dependent. There is an appreciable enhancement of the functional property in the fortified yam flours compared to the unfortified. The values of some of the unfortified and fortified yam samples were as follows: swelling index (1.32-2.01 & 0.31-1.95), bulk density (0.86-0.94 & 0.74-0.85), water absorption capacity (1.69-2.33 &1.74-2.65), oil absorption capacity (2.44-2.96 $ 2.02-2.46) respectively. Fortification of the yam flour with moringa seed meal was able to boost the nutritional content of the samples as was evidenced in the result, suggesting that moringa seed meal can be added to other food to improve the nutrient and functionalities.
