Quality assessment of flour and cookies from wheat, African yam bean and acha flours

In this study, the suitability of wheat, acha and African yam bean composite flour in the development of cookies was investigated. Wheat, acha and African yam bean were blended into various proportions of flour mixes and used to produce cookies. The flour mixes were analyzed for the proximate, minerals composition, functional properties and anti-nutrients, while the cookies were evaluated for its sensory and physical properties. The proximate composition of the flours varied from 7.85-9.71%, 12.34-14.01%, 1.15- 1.86%, 1.21-1.49%, 1.65-1.92% and 70.01-76.11% for moisture, protein, fat, crude fiber, ash and carbohydrate content of the flour, respectively. The mineral content ranged from 10.11-13.12 mg/100 g, 52.65-61.76 mg/100 g, 130.71-211.76 mg/100 g, 111.97-130.84 mg/100 g and 14.81-20.43 mg/100 g for calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and sodium, respectively. The functional properties ranged from 0.76-0.80 g/cm³; 86.65- 188.11 g/g; 94.30-197.23 g/g; 569.23-699.54%; 5.68-6.44%; 61.50-125.50 sec, 73.75- 75.25% for bulk density, water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, swelling capacity, solubility, wettability and dispersiblity respectively. The anti-nutritional properties ranged from 37.67 to 46.73 mg/100 g, 5.27 to 5.57 mg/100 g and 32.91 to 35.10 mg/100 g for oxalate, phytate and tannin, respectively. The physical properties values ranged from 6.11-8.20 mm, 38.46-39.30 mm, 37.83-38.23 mm, 4.79-5.85, 5.35-7.49 g and 1.72-1.90 kg for thickness, diameter, height, spread ratio, weight and break strength respectively. Cookies from composite flours were not significantly (p>0.05) different from the control in overall acceptability. This shows the possibility of producing nutritious cookies with desirable organoleptic qualities from wheat, acha and African yam bean flour.