Proximate composition, fiber fractions, techno-functional and pasting properties of wheat and African palmyra palm shoot composite flours and acceptability of their developed chin-chin snacks

Abstract African palmyra palm (Borassus aethiopum Mart.) is an underutilized plant indigenous to tropical Africa and its shoot which is usually eaten raw or cooked is often appreciated for its medicinal value. The suitability of wheat and African palmyra palm shoot (APPS) composite flours (90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50) for the production of functional chin-chin snack was examined in this study. Wheat flour (100%) and its chin-chin were the controls. Proximate, fiber fractions, techno-functional and pasting properties of the composite flours were evaluated and acceptability of the developed snacks was examined. Fat, ash and protein of the composite flours decreased while fiber increased with increasing inclusion of APPS flour. Inclusion of APPS flour resulted in the composite flours having higher (p ≤ 0.05) neutral detergent soluble fiber (51.61–98.64%), acid detergent fiber (14.76–37.09%), lignin (11.72–30.09%), silica (1.14–1.99%), cellulose (2.14–5.21%), and hemicellulose (36.52–61.52%). Increasing the level of substitution of APPS flour increased the water absorption capacity (76.91-115.38%), swelling index (1.65–2.07) and dispersibility (70.49–88.53%) but decreased oil absorption capacity (172.88-136.26%) and bulk density (0.8630–0.7939 g/mL) of the composite flours. Substitution of wheat flour with APPS shoot flour (10–50%) resulted in decreased peak viscosity, trough viscosity, breakdown viscosity, final viscosity, setback viscosity and peak time. Chin-chin snacks containing up to 30% APPS flour were acceptable, with those with 10% substitution level being the best. This study revealed that African palmyra palm shoot flour could be explored as a sustainable functional ingredient for the production of baked and fried food products.