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The pearl millet kernels were sorted, dehulled, wined, grown, sieved (to produce millet flour), mixed with defatted groundnut concentrate (10, 20, … 50 per cent), spiced (2 per cent – ginger, clove and red pepper), conditioned (with water), weighed into 20g pices, molded, steamed for 30 minutes, mashed to a smooth dough, molded back to a ball, coated with maize flour ready for use. The effect of the added groundnut on the physico‐chemical (moisture, protein, fat, ash, carbohydrate) and sensory (flavour, colour, texture) quality were evaluated. There was an increase in the moisture (19.60‐23.90 per cent), protein (12.69‐20.18 per cent), fat (2.27‐2.51 per cent), ash (2.8‐3.18 per cent), but a decrease in the carbohydrate (62.65‐50.23 per cent). Also, there is a decrease in the mean scores of the texture (7.05‐5.45 per cent) but an increase in that of colour (6.50‐7.15 per cent) with an increase in the added groundnut concentrate (0‐50 per cent). The mean score for odour and taste decreased at above the 40 per cent added groundnut concentrate.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the nutrient and sensory properties of dambu, a steamed granulated dumpling product produced from maize (Zea mays), millet (Pennisetum glaucum), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and acha (Digitaria exilis), grains. It is a popular midday meal of the Fulanis of Nigeria, normally sprinkled into fermented skimmed milk or whole milk and sugar may be added to taste.

Dambu was prepared in the laboratory using decorticated clean cereal grains, which were pulverized into coarse particles, mixed with spices and water, and steamed for 20 min. Analysis was carried out on the products following document and established procedures.

Data obtained indicated that dambu contained an appreciable amount of protein (10.1‐10.7 per cent) and fat (2.2‐3.4 per cent). The moisture and ash contents were found to range from 35 to 38 per cent and 0.5 to 1.2 per cent, respectively; crude fibre ranged from 1.8 to 2.1 per cent; carbohydrate ranged from 45 to 49 per cent and the energy ranged from 247 to 264 kcal/100 g. The amino acid profiles of the dambu showed that the different dambu products contain both essential and non‐essential amino acids. The mineral contents were found to be high in potassium, phosphorus, calcium, zinc, and magnesium. The mean scores of aroma, chewiness, and overall acceptability for the products were not significantly different (p > 0.05) but difference existed in the texture and appearance.

The consumption of dambu from different cereal grains is encouraged; especially where a particular cereal is off season, the other grains could be used as a substitute and complementary.

The findings here suggested that dambu is necessary to cereal industry and baby foods (weaning foods).

The results of this research contribute to the knowledge of cereal meals, especially those that are indigenous to Nigeria and West Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a study to produce wheatless bread from acha/fonio (Digitaria exilis) flour with sprouted soybean flour (SSF) using Irish potato starch (IPS) as gluten replacer and determine the sensory qualities of the product.

Acha bread (AB) was baked from acha flour with varying quantities of yeast and IPS added as determined by the 3² factorial design arrangement. Nine different formulations of acha were produced. The loaves were assessed for loaf volume (LV), specific loaf volume (SLV), loaf firmness (LF), proximate composition and consumer acceptability to determine the effect of IPS, yeast and SSF.

The different levels of yeast and IPS gave significant (p < 0.05) changes in firmness of the loaves. A negative effect was observed for yeast and positive effect for IPS. Beyond 4 per cent yeast the effect of yeast on LV was not significant. Hence, the optimal level of yeast was between 2 to 4 per cent. The effect of IPS significantly (p < 0.05) increased the LV. The product with 2 per cent yeast +20 per cent IPS +5 per cent SSF was judged the best recipe for consumer acceptable acha bread. Addition of SSF made the bread softer and significantly increased the crude protein and fibre content of the loaf. The acha bread had apparent yield stress of 286.6 to 546.8 kN/m² and specific loaf volume of 2.05 to 2.16 cm³/g.

A deliberate attempt was made to remove sugar from this product and as such is believed to serve as a good alternative to wheat bread for diabetic individuals and those allergic to gluten. Further research will investigate the functionality of IPS and SSF in AB making and nutritional qualities of the product.

The study demonstrates that IPS was effective in retaining gas evolved during baking and that SSF significantly increased the nutritional quality of acha bread.

The results of this research contribute to development of specialty cereal based foods for diabetic individuals in Africa and Dominican Republic where acha (fonio) is grown.

Fura is a traditional thick dough ball snack produced principally from millet or sorghum which is common in Nigeria. It is consumed with nono (local fermented milk) or mashed in water before consumption in the form of porridge. The purpose of this paper is to study the optimization of feed composition, feed moisture and screw speed on acceptability and hydration properties of fura extrudates from pearl millet and soybean flour mixtures.

The effects of extrusion conditions feed composition (ratio of soybean to millet), percentage moisture wet basis and screw speed (rpm) on the hydration properties and the acceptability of fura from millet‐soybean flour mixtures were studied using a single screw extruder. Response surface methodology (RSM) was adopted to evaluate the hydration properties responses of fura extrudates.

The models showed R²=0.863, 0.825, 0.898 and 0.741 for hydration power (HP), effect of quantity of water on swell volume (EQWSV), wettability (WTBLTY) and viscosity respectively indicating that the model was a good fit and could be used to navigate the design space. The result indicates that increasing the level of soybean flour resulted in decreased HP of fura extrudates. The overall acceptability sensory scores show that the fura extrudate design point 11 representing 20 percent soybean, 16.6 percent feed moisture and 200rpm recorded the highest acceptability (7.25) with significant differences from the other extrudates in terms of colour, flavor, texture and overall acceptability.

The extrusion cooking data from this study could help predict the expected performance in investigations of potential use of millet and soybean to explore the possibility of industrial projection.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the storage stability of improved dambu, a steamed granulated dumpling product generally made from millet, was produced from maize (Zea mays), millet (Pennisetum glaucum), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and acha (Digitaria exilis). It is a popular mid‐day meal of the Fulanis of Nigeria normally sprinkled into fermented skimmed milk or whole milk and sugar may be added to taste.

Improved dambu was prepared in the laboratory using decorticated clean cereal grains which were pulverished into coarse particles, mixed with spices, preservative (sorbic acid) and water and steamed for 20 min. The improved dambu products were packaged in low‐density polyethylene (LDPE), LDPE with plastic and LDPE with paperboard and stored at room temperature (25 ^○C) for six days. Analysis was carried out on the products following documented and established procedures.

Data obtained indicated that during storage, pH decrease was observed while titratable acidity increased for improved dambu products. The microbial load (cfu/g) increased with storage time for all the products packaged in LDPE, LDPE with plastic and LDPE with paperboard. Dambu has a limited storage life of one day at room temperature (25 ^○C) and four days with 0.2 per cent (w/w) sorbic acid as preservative. Micro‐organisms of significance in the products are Aspergillus sp, Penicillum sp, Candida sp, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacter aerogenes. The nature of the microflora suggested that dambu is a good substrate for fungal growth. In the comparative study of dambu products with and without sorbic acid, there was no significant difference in the mean scores for all the assessed parameters.

The consumption of dambu from different cereal grains is encouraged especially where a particular cereal is off season. The shelf‐life of dambu was extended to four days by using 0.2 per cent (w/w) sorbic acid as preservative and packaged in LDPE with plastic and LDPE with paperboard. Further research should be carried out to extend the shelf‐life more.

The findings have suggested that dambu is necessary to cereal industry and baby foods (weaning foods).

The results of this research contributes to the knowledge of cereal meals, especially those that are indigenous to Nigeria and West Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of adding Aloe vera powder (AVP) in the production of mahewu with the aim of determining its shelf-life and sensory qualities.

Mahewu was produced at home (Sample B) and in the laboratory (Sample C) using a standard home-made procedure with the addition of AVP. A control mahewu (Sample A) was produced without AVP. Shelf-life was determined by following the chemical, microbiological, physical properties at 36 ± 2 °C for 60 days and the sensory properties of the products were also evaluated.

Physicochemical analysis revealed decreases in pH ranging between 3.3 and 2.4 from day 15–60 days of storage in all three samples. There was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in titratable acidity (0.2–1.8%) of all mahewu samples during storage. Total soluble solids were different amongst the samples from day 15 to day 60. The colour of the products was significantly different (p = 0.05) with respect to L*, a* and b* throughout the storage period. Microbiological results revealed an increase in coliforms bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, and yeast during storage. Sensory analysis showed that the control mahewu was more preferred than AVP added mahewu.

The study may help small-scale brewers to increase the shelf-life of mahewu.

Results of this study showed that the addition of AVP extended shelf-life of mahewu up to 15 days at 36 ± 2 °C.

Acha (Digitaria exilis staph.) grain was purchased locally from Jos central market in Plateau State of Nigeria. The grain was washed, destoned, oven (cabinet)‐dried, dry milled, sieved and used as acha grain flour to substitute for wheat flour for the production of biscuit. The physical (spread ratio, break strength, weight) and sensory (colour, taste, odour, texture) qualities of the biscuit were determined. The spread ratio increases (5.95 to 7.33), while the bread strength decreases (1.97 to 1.49) with the increase in the acha grain flour percentage. The effects were generally significant at above 30 per cent substitution (p≤0.05).

This paper seeks to examine the production of wheatless bread from acha flour and to determine consumer acceptability of the product.

Wheatless bread was baked from acha (Digitaria exilis) and Irish potato starch blends of 80:20 respectively with varying (1‐4 per cent) quantity of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). The loaves were assessed for loaf volume (LV) and specific loaf volume (SLV) as well as consumer acceptability.

The addition of CMC gave an increase in LV of 40.0 per cent in acha bread (AB) with 1 per cent CMC to 59.5 per cent in AB with 4 per cent CMC. The SLV of the acha loaves did not differ significantly from one another. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) between AB without CMC, AB with 1‐3 per cent CMC and wheat bread in appearance, crust colour, crumb texture, crumb colour and general acceptability (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the AB with 4 per cent CMC and wheat bread in crumb texture, crumb colour and general acceptability. AB with 4 per cent CMC compared favourably with wheat bread in sensory characteristics.

This work was a preliminary work to determine the possibility of producing bread with acha. Further research will investigate the functional and nutritional qualities of AB with 4 per cent CMC found to be comparable with wheat bread.

The study demonstrated the possibility of producing AB using CMC.

Acha has been identified as a major food for diabetic patients in Nigeria by medical practitioners. The AB developed will be of great benefit to countless diabetic patients in Nigeria.

Acha and millet were cleaned, steeped in water, washed and spiced. Dry, granulated sweet potato was added and wet milled to produce a slurry. Two‐thirds of the slurry were gelatinized by the addition of boiled water and allowed to stand for two hours before the temperature was dropped to 50°C. The third part of the fresh slurry was added, mixed and allowed to stand for 12 hours, filtered through a cloth and sweetened by sucrose to produce kunun zaki. The effect of the two grains on the physiochemical properties (viscosity, total soluble solids, total solids, acidity, protein, fat, ash, moisture, carbohydrate and specific density) and sensory (colour, taste, odour, texture) quality were assessed. The physiochemical properties of the two grains were relatively similar. The mean scores for the flavour (odour and taste) are significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) with the acha based kunun zaki being more acceptable.

The purpose of this paper is to compare food utilization of quality protein maize (QPM) to other maize varieties.

Pap (ogi) – a maize starch porridge was prepared from QPM, tropical Zea mays early (TZE) and local maize (LM) using the traditional method. Physicochemical, microbiological and sensory analyses were carried out on the pap samples as indices of quality following standard methods.

The sensory evaluation preference rating for pap (ogi) prepared from QPM, TZE and LM varieties showed no significant difference (p < 0.05) in flavour, taste, colour and overall acceptability. Significant difference was however observed in the pH of the three products.

The findings suggested that QPM have the potential to replace other maize varieties as a staple diet and cheap source of quality protein.

This paper contributes knowledge to the fight against malnutrition and hunger, especially in the sub‐Saharan Africa.