Chemical Composition and Storage Stability of Crunchy Snacks Produced from Corn, Red Kidney Beans and Onion Flour

Corn flour is a very important ingredients in producing crunchy snacks. However, the use of other plant sources to supplement corn flour in producing crunchy snacks is not uncommon. This study thus investigated the chemical composition and storage stability of crunchy snack produced from corn, red kidney beans and onion flour. Three samples EOD: Corn: Red Kidney Bean: Onion (70:25:5%); XYZ: Corn: Red Kidney Bean: Onion (70:20:10%); FAV: Corn: Red Kidney Bean: Onion (70:15:15%) and a control ABC: Oyato crunchy snack, were analysed for proximate, mineral, free fatty acid (FFA), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), saponification value (SV), peroxide value (PV), Microbial population and Sensory properties. Proximate Composition; moisture content ranged from 4.03 - 15.33% and crude protein content ranged from 3.33 – 9.52% among the samples. Mineral Composition; P, Ca, Na and Cd ranged between, 31.52 – 51.63 mg/100g, 3.57-4.53 mg/100g, 181.80-314.40 mg/100g, and not detected respectively for the samples. FFA had first month 2.45 – 5.33% and second month 3.14 – 5.33%. Storage stability; TBA first month had 0.18 to 0.51 mgMDA/Kg and second month 1.67 – 2.36 mgMDA/Kg; SV first month had 7.04 - 68.85 mgKOH/g and second month 7.65 to 103.70 mgKOH/g; PV first month had 3.50 to 20.00 meq/Kg and second month 8.50 to 21.50 meq/Kg. The microbial population was relatively low and within safe limits, total viable and fungi count 1.5-7.0×102 Cfu/g and 2.5-9×102 cfu/g after the first month respectively; total viable and fungi count 9.0-45×102 cfu/g and 5.0-25×102 cfu/g after second month respectively. There were no significant differences (p< 0.05) in the crunchiness, mouthfeel and overall acceptability of formulated crunchy snack samples and the commercial crunchy snack. The crunchy snacks investigated in this study has a good sensory evaluation and storage stability.