Impact of Soy Enrichment on Physico-Chemical, In-Vitro Protein and Starch Digestibility, Vitamin, Antioxidant and Sensory Properties of “Lafun” Flour

Abstract

The study evaluated the physico-chemical, in-vitro protein and starch digestibility, vitamin and antioxidant properties of soy-enriched “lafun” flours as well as the quality acceptability of the reconstituted dough meal from the flours through sensory evaluation. “Lafun”’ was enriched with soy protein supplements (curd or residue at 10%) during the mashing before drying (wet-mix method) followed by thorough mixing to ensure uniform distribution of the soy curd and residue. The total titratable acidity of the flours ranged from 0.65 – 0.86% and pH ranged from 3.43 – 4.07. While enrichment increased the in-vitro protein digestibility from 8.70 to 71.20%, an inversely correlated observation was obtained for the in-vitro starch digestibility which ranged between 45.55 and 71.20. Enrichment also increased the vitamin (B-vitamins) as well as the antioxidant properties of the flour. While this study showed the possibility of enriching cassava flour (“Lafun”) with soy curd or residue, the quality acceptability result revealed higher preference for the non-enriched samples.