Evaluation of Glycemic Index, Antinutritional and Sensory Properties of Fufu from Blends of Aerial Yam (AYF), Finger Millet (FMF) and Pro-Vitamin A Cassava Flours (PVACF)

The study x-rays the evaluation of glycemic index, Antinutritional and sensory properties of fufu blends of Aerial yam (<i>Dioscorea bulbifera</i>), finger millet (<i>Eleusine coracana</i>) and pro vitamin A cassava (<i>Manihot esculanta </i>“<i>Yellow cassava</i>”). The experiments were conducted using the simplex centroid design, 14 formulations were obtained using mixture response surface methodology as the optimizing technique. The formulated flour blends showed that there was significant difference (P<0.05) between the range of values 51.77-56.03 for Glycemic index and 14.14 -21.08 Glycemic load respectively. The anti-nutrients showed tannin, phytate, oxalate and total phenolic contents of 0.35-3.39, 1.07- 6.57, 0.84 - 3.43, and 0.59- 1.91mg/100g respectively. Significant differences did not exist (P>0.05) amongst the observed values for tannin, phytate, oxalate and phenol content. Results of the fufu blends revealed sensory score of the flour blends fufu for appearance, taste, mould ability, stickiness, consistency, colour and overall acceptability were 4.69-7.34; 4.02-5.57; 5.79-8.21; 3.80-7.71; 5.84-8.53; 2.33-7.13; and 6.33-8.20 respectively. The study showed that flour blends from aerial yam flour (AYF), finger millet flour (FMF) and pro vitamin A cassava flour (PVACF) have great potentials in the production of fufu with wide range of nutritional and sensory attributes, therefore can be used as nutritious and convenient functional foods. Enabling a new product (starch flour) source for the development of food products that can reduce dependence on other starch sources such as corn and rice.