Evaluation of nutritional quality and sensory characteristics of injera from teff(Eragrostis tef) enriched with fenugreek ((Trigonella foenum-graecum l.) flour

One of the major problems associated with consumption of cereals alone may result in nutrient deficiencies. The use of pretreated seeds composite flour can improve the macro and micro nutrient deficiencies.However, scenarios indicate that the nutrient composition of teff is not comparable to legumes. Due to this the nutritional value for injera made from teff and pretreated fenugreek flour is increasing. This study was carried out to assess the effect of using differently processed fenugreek flour (raw, roasted, soaked, germinated and boiled) and substitution level on proximate composition, antioxidant activity and sensory characteristics of injera made from teff-fenugreek flour blends. Factorial experimental design was used with two factors arrangement (5x3) and analyzed by SAS 9.2 statistical software.Injera was made using teff flour incorporated in raw and pretreated fenugreek flour at the ratios of 100:0, 95:5, 90:10 and 85:15 for teff: fenugreek flour, respectively. Injera prepared from blend of teff with fenugreek (raw, roasted, soaked, germinated and boiled) at 5, 10 and 15% levels were compared with control (100% teff) for chemical composition, antioxidant activity and sensory properties. The results indicated that protein, crude fiber, calcium, zinc and antioxidant of the injera from blend of teff and fenugreek (raw, roasted, soaked, germinated and boiled) at 5,10 and 15% levels increased significantly at (p<0.05) with progressive increase in the fenugreek flour substitution. While the iron, carbohydrate and energy contents decreased significantly and higher at control sample. Mean values of protein, crude fiber, calcium, zinc, iron and antioxidant values were in the range of 12.95 to 9.36, 2.4, to 3.93, 77.28 to 103.41, 2.11 to 4.30, 20 to 25 and 34.19 to 57.69% respectively. The phytate and saponin content significantly decreased as increase in pretreated fenugreek flour than raw fenugreek blends samples. Processing enables that the antinutritional factors in the fenugreek couldn’t hamper its nutritional value. Therefore, processing methods were effective to reduce the levels of antinutritional factors, thereby improving the bioavailability of zinc, iron and calcium.The result in sensory analysis gave overall acceptability of highest scores as 3.30, 4.00,3.73, 4.10 and 3.80 for raw, roasted, soaked, germinated and boiled teff-fenugreek blends injera at 5, 10 and 15% respectively. Generally, among all blends, injera from teff blend with 15% germinated and 15% soaked fenugreek flour had higher nutrients contents and antioxidant activity than other blend samples. Overall acceptability scores of injera were found highly acceptable at 5% (at par with control) and 10% levels blends.