Proximate Composition and Sensory Properties of Wheat-Maize Composite Flour Biscuits Enriched with Fermented Locust Beans (Parkia biglobosa)

The current economic situation in Nigeria demands the substitution of maize flour for wheat flour in pastries. Concern of health-conscious consumer for quality food led to the enrichment of this composite flour with nutritive and medicinal underutilize crop as Parkia biglobosa. Biscuits were produced from wheat-maize composite flours and enriched with fermented Parkia biglobosa flour (FPB). The proximate composition and sensory properties of the FPB enriched wheat-maize composite flour biscuit samples (A, B and C) was assessed. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA) at p ˂ 0.05. The proximate results of the biscuits samples ranged from 12.52 to 12.80% (moisture content), 3.15 to 3.28% (ash), 12.30 to 15.26% (fat), 2.63 to 4.21% (fibre), 10.37 to 13.26% (crude protein) and 53.00 to 57.05% (carbohydrate). The sensory evaluation results ranged between 5.30-6.40; 4.70-5.70; 4.70-5.90; 4.60-5.70; 4.82-5.87 for crispness, colour, aroma, taste and overall acceptability respectively. Sample C had least fat content, highest fibre and carbohydrate content and was most preferred for crispness, taste and overall acceptability. Significant (p<0.05) difference was observed for the moisture and carbohydrate content of the biscuit samples, while there were significant (p<0.05) differences among the sample means for crispness and colour.

Keywords: Parkia Biglobosa, Biscuits, Fermented, Maize Flour, Composite Flour.