Development of nutritious, safe and acceptable cassava-soy bean flakes

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) and soybean (Glycine max) utilization is reduced by presence of natural chemical hazards which require processing to lower them to safe levels. In addition, cassava is nutritionally deficient of quality protein and minerals. This study sought to evaluate how formulation of safe Cassava-Soybean flakes could be achieved while striking a balance between maximizing nutrition aspects and sensory aspects. A single Pearson square was employed to give a target of 25% of soybean incorporation that resulted to half of recommended daily intake of protein for age 2-5 yrs. Variation above and below 25% of soybean incorporation level was done to give the following formulations; 0:100, 15:85, 25:75, 35:65 and 50:50 soybean to cassava, respectively. After formulation, the samples were subjected to chemical and descriptive sensory evaluation. Proximate composition of the formulations differed significantly (p<0.05). With focus on protein content, as level of incorporation of soybean increased, protein content of the flakes increased too with the highest level in formulation being 22.12%. Mineral content of flakes had a similar trend with the highest level at 4.04% in formulation. Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) content for all the samples were within safe range of below 10 mg/kg for the formulated samples and significantly differed at (p<0.05) with the lowest and highest levels being 8.35 mg/kg and 9.72 mg/kg, respectively. Sensory results showed sample with 65% and 35% cassava and soybean had the highest score of 6.4 on a seven-point hedonic scale for overall acceptability and exhibited significant difference from the rest of samples. There was no significant difference (p<0.05) for beany flavor in all the sample formulations an indicator that the objectionable flavor that hamper utilization of soybean and soy related products had been eliminated while processing the soybeans.