Establishing Acceptability Thresholds for Matooke Colour And Texture

This report presents the results of a consumer testing study aiming to determine thresholds for acceptability of the quality traits of steamed Matooke. The aim of acceptability thresholds is to obtain measurable values for the intensity of key sensory characteristics corresponding to consumer acceptability: color and Texture of steamed Matooke in Uganda. The activity was conducted at the peri-urban location of Kawanda, Wakiso District in the central region. Ten matooke varieties with contrasting quality characteristics were processed into steamed matooke and presented to consumers for evaluation. Four local varieties Kibuzi, Mbwazirume, Nakitembe, and Nfuuka, and six hybrids NARITA 17, M30, M9, NARITA 9, NARITA 13, and NARITA 22 were used in the exercise. The threshold values were determined through consumer testing using a 9-point hedonic scale and just-about-right (JAR) tests, Quantitative. Descriptive Analysis (QDA) by a trained panel, and Instrumental analysis with a Chroma Meter and a TMS-Pilot texture analyzer for color and texture respectively following threshold determination methodological procedure. The analysis was done using means and ANOVAs in XLSTAT. The results showed that the consumers perceived the matooke products from the ten varieties differently which were discriminant for texture and color. Nakitembe, Kibuzi, Nfuuka, and Mbwazirume gave a mean overall liking score of 7.89, 7.83, 7.8 and 7.5 (‘like very much’) respectively. Matooke hybrids NARITA 17, had mean overall liking of 7 (“like moderately”), M30 had mean liking of 6. M9, NARITA 22, with a mean liking of 5, (nether neither liked nor disliked) and NARITA 13 and NARITA 9 had mean values of 3 “dislike moderately” respectively. Results further indicate that the acceptable instrumental color ranged between 27.5 and ≥29.5 from arbitrary chosen consumer JAR levels of 60% and 70% respectively. More still, for JAR softness and instrumental cohesiveness, for more than 60% of the consumers to be satisfied, instrumental cohesiveness should be more than 0.55 and the optimal threshold where 70% of the consumers are satisfied as greater than 0.87. Instrumental hardness acceptability threshold was reportedly between 2 and 2.6(hardness≤2.6).