Use of Newly Bred I-Carotene Cassava in Production of Value-Added Products: Implication for Food Security in Nigeria
The investigation into food qualities of six (6) newly bred β-carotene cassava namely; NR07/0427, NR07/0432, NR07/0326, NR07/0506, NR07/0497 and NR07/0499 of the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Nigeria using TMS 30572 as control was carried out. The chemical composition of the fresh roots to determine their carotenoid, moisture and starch contents was also carried out. Furthermore, the six of newly bred β-carotene cassava and the TMS 30572 (control) were processed into high quality cassava flours (HQCF) with which their physico-chemical properties were determined. The HQCF were also used in making 10% cassava bread, chin-chin, cakes, strips and salad cream and evaluated organoleptically. The result showed that the moisture contents of the fresh cassava roots ranged from 71.27% (TMS 30572) to 75.26% (NR07/0427) while the starch contents ranged from 11.69% (NR07/0427) to 29.16% (NR07/0499).The starch contents of the flours produced from the roots ranged from23.18(NR07/0427) to 61.05% (TMS30572), crude fibre ranged from 0.62 to 1.74% and ash ranged from 0.93 to 1.85%; Packed bulk density ranged from 0.68 to 1.53g/ml, loose bulk density ranged from2.3 to 3.5g/ml and pH from 5.05 to 5.70. The carotenoid content of fresh root samples had values from 0.528 μg/g for TMS 30572 (control) to 3.876μg/g for NR07/0326. The values for the HQCF ranged from 0.146 μg/g to 0.877μg/g TMS30572 and NR07/0326 respectively. The sensory evaluation result of the 10% cassava bread, chin-chin, cakes, strips and salad-cream produced from β-carotene cassava varieties revealed that in general acceptability, all the samples were acceptable to the panelists. This study showed that the processed β-carotene cassava varieties contained adequate quantities of carotenoid to combat vitamin A deficiency. The physico-chemical properties and sensory evaluation indicated that β-carotene cassava varieties are good sources of starch, minerals and fibre and could be very useful
