Production of Bread from Composites of Wheat, Maize, and Soybeans Flours

Bread consumption prepared from solely wheat flour have remained popular in Nigeria. The low protein and fiber content of wheat flour and its associated high cost are the major concerns in its utilization as ingredient in bakery industries. The use of wheat flour, maize flour and soybeans flour blends in varying proportions for the production of bread was studied. Wheat flour was substituted with maize and soybeans flour in ratios 9:5:5, 8:15:5, 8:10:10, 8:5:15, 7:25:5, 7:20:10, 7:15:15, 7:10:20 while wheat flour bread served as control. The different bread samples were produced and subsequently were analyzed for functional properties, proximate compositions, physical parameters, sensory evaluation, pasting properties and shelf-life studies. The crude protein of the composite bread samples ranged from 8.75% to 29.17%. Sensory properties of the composite bread were significantly (p< 0.05) affected by blending ratio. (T6) had the highest value compared to other treatments, while (T5 and T8) had the least value and are not significantly different from each other. However, there was significance difference (P≤0.05) among the entire treatments. The bread with blend 70% wheat flour, 20% maize flour and 10% soybean flour was organoleptically preferred as much as that of whole wheat flour and it also has the highest protein value of 29.17%when compared with bread from other treatment. The shelf life study also indicated that all the bread samples can be stored for 5 days before the onset of mould growth.