Functional and Sensory Properties of Snacks Produced From the Blends of Maize-soy Flour

Functional and Sensory Properties of Snacks Produced From the Blends of Maize-soy Flour

Chapter One

Aims and Objectives of the Study

Therefore, the aims and objectives of this study are to determine:

To develop a locally available snack that can be easily access in our environment, now that there is problem on importation of goods
To examine functional properties of flours produced from the blends of maize and soyabean.
To determine the sensory attributes of snacks produced from the blends of maize-soy composite flour.
To establish their blending ratio based on their determined sensory attributes and functional properties.
To compare the snacks production performance to that of confectional flour product.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Cultivation of Maize

Maize improvement work started in the forest zones but yield trials were soon conducted in both forest and savanna locations (Van Eijnatten, 2005). The evaluation zones were:

Wet rainforest, covering most of Eastern States of Nigeria and the South-Western part.
Derived Savanna, fringing the forests and forming the transition to the southern Guinea Savanna.
Southern Guinea Savanna.

Because of the differences in yield potential of the ecological zones, testing of new maize varieties across the country became an established practice in maize breeding. These trials were called cooperative maize yield trials (Chinwuba, 2002). With time, the name has gone through several changes, including zonal Trials, Uniform maize, variety trials and now, Nationally Coordinated Maize Variety Trials (NCMVT).

Yields in Ibadan (7^o22’N) representing the Forest zone and Mokwa (9^o19’N) in the Southern Guinea Savanna were much lower than in Savanna (11^o11’N) of the Northern Guinea Savanna. A comparison by Fakoredeet al., (2009b) of Forest and Savanna location since yield trials conducted for four years showed that the yield advantage of the savanna was due primarily to ear number. Whereas number of plants harvested was about the same in the two agro-ecologies, the savanna zone consistently produced more ears per unit land area. Therefore barrenness was much more pronounced in Forest zone than in Savanna ecologies. Maize plants in the savanna were taller with higher ear placement, suggesting greater vigor of growth. Number of days to silkingwas about the same in the two ecologies although the late Ops and the yellow hybrids tended to silk later in the Savanna than in the forest zone. However, percentage moisture content at harvest was consistently lower at savanna than at forest locations. This implies a shorter grain – filling duration and/or a faster dry-down rate in the savanna than in forest ecologies. Indeed, the “stay green” character secures frequently in the forest zone, whereas it is almost non-existent in the savanna zones.

The hybrid maize project has made an impact in Nigeria. The yield advantages of hybrids appear to be sufficiently large to attract the attention of farmers. Improved high yielding maize variety can express its full genetic potential only when offered optimum management resources. This starts with the right choice of site through timely and appropriate establishment, nutrition, disease and pest control to proper harvesting procedure and produce disposal and/or storage. Details of these operations with regards to maize productiontechnology relevant to Nigeria are:

Land clearing and yield preparation: Land clearing must be carried out with minimal displacement of the topsoil. It requires judicious use of heavy machinery coupled with sound soil conservation measures that will preserve the soil fertility status, which varies under longterm fallow vegetation. Minimum tillage is a feasible way of sustaining high soil fertility under intensive maize farming.

Planting time: Sowing date is an essential component of crop management. Yields decline with lateness of planting after an optimum time, usually the start of the rains. Response of varieties to other inputs is dependent upon planting time. Optimum planting in each of the major agro-ecological zones of Nigeria falls with these following ranges.

Forest zone – Mid April – 2nd week in May
Forest – Savanna transition – 3rd week in April – 3rd week in May
South Guinea Savanna Last week in April – 3rd week in May.
Northern Guinea Savanna – last week in May – 1st week in June
Sudan Savanna – First 2 weeks in June

CHAPTER THREE

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Materials Source

The materials needed for snack production using maize-soy flour blend are:

Maize(Zea may)
Soy bean (Glycine max)
Skim powder milk
Sugar, salt and baking powder
Food grade flavor and
Margarine

These materials were procured from the local market in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria.

Methods

Production of Maize Flour

Maize flour was produced according to the procedure described by Okoruwa (2005). Dried maize kernels were sorted to remove dirt’s and impurities, thereafter it was milled using attrition mill and packaged into high density polyethylene film(figure 1).

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Results

Table 4.1: Results on the Functional Properties of Maize and Soy Flour Blends

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion

The present study has revealed that consumption of the maize-soy based snack (biscuits) may improve nutrition in terms of the essential amino acid intakes in such a way that it may eventually contribute to the reduction of PEM, although an increase in the level of substitution of the maize flour with the soy flour resulted in a reduction of the acceptance level in all the sensory attributes considered. Biscuits with a higher nutritional content can be made with composite blends of maize flour and soy flour.

Recommendation

The comparative nutritional and sensorial credibility justify the need for further investigation into the use of various agricultural materials in the production of snacks that will promote both the nutritional and health needs of man. Attention should be paid towards attaining the fiber levels for digestion and health benefits without compromising the quality characteristics of products.

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