Nutritional and Sensory Evaluation of High Fiber Biscuits Produced from Blends of African Breadfruit, Maize and Coconut Flours

Abstract

High fiber biscuits were produced from a blend of African Breadfruit flour, Maize flour and Coconut grits. Flour blend of ratio Whole breadfruit seeds: Maize: Coconut of 70:20:10 was used for Sample A; 60:30:10 for Sample B; 45:45:10 for Sample C; 30: 60:10 for Sample D and 20: 70: 10 for Sample E. Sample F was obtained from blend of flours of Hulled breadfruit seeds: Maize: Coconut on a ratio 45:45:10, while Sample G (control) was produced from 100% Wheat flour. The samples were subjected to nutritional and sensory evaluation. Proximate composition of the samples showed that Dry matter (Dm) ranged from 95.10 - 95.49%, Moisture 4.51 to 4.90%, Protein 8.45 to 10.85%, Fat 9.01 to 16.68%, Crude fiber 1.56 to 9.32%, Carbohydrate 59.36 to 71.54% and Ash 2.01 to 2.88%.The samples made from flour blends were significantly (p<0.05) higher in Moisture, Fat, Crude fiber and Ash, while the sample made of wheat flour ( control ) was significantly higher in Carbohydrate and Energy value. The wheat flour biscuit was significantly (p<0.05) higher in protein than samples containing whole breadfruit flour, but significantly  (p<0.05) lower than the sample containing hulled breadfruit flour. The blended flour samples were significantly (p<0.05) higher in Dietary fiber, while the wheat flour biscuit was significantly higher in all the sensory attributes considered. Overall, the high fiber biscuits produced from the flour blends compared favorably with the sample obtained from the conventional wheat flour, thus showing prospects for industrial application of the flour blends.