FORTIFICATION OF BREAD WITH THE SCLEROTIA OF PLEUROTUS TUBER-REGIUM

Bread is a staple food in most parts of the world. In Nigeria, it is the second most consumed food after rice. However, grains used in the production of bread, such as wheat, millet, maize, and others, are known to be poor in protein; therefore, bread is also low in protein content. This study aimed to supplement wheat flour with flour made from the sclerotium of Pleurotus tuber-regium to enhance the nutritional value of bread. Wheat flour was supplemented with different concentrations of Pleurotus tuber-regium sclerotium flour (5-25%), while 100% wheat and 100% flour served as positive and negative controls, respectively. Evaluations such as dough rising, product weight, sensory parameters, and proximate composition were carried out. Data were analysed using analysis of variance and the Spearman correlation coefficient. The supplementation negatively affected the rising of the dough from 1.2 (5% supplementation) to 0.4 (25% supplementation) after 25 minutes of incubation, but positively influenced the weight of the products from 348 g (non-supplemented sample) to 495 g (100% sclerotium flour). The bread with the lowest level of supplementation (5%) had the highest acceptability (5.31); however, further increases in supplementation reduced acceptability. The supplementation improved the protein, fat, and ash contents, and decreased the moisture, crude fibre, and carbohydrate contents of the bread. Overall, the supplementation appeared to improve the nutritional composition of the bread while also enhancing its shelf stability, as moisture content decreased with higher supplementation. Additionally, it suggests a viable use of the sclerotium in producing composite flour for bread making.