Evaluation, Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Composite Bread Produced from Wheat, Sweet Potatoes and Cashew Nut Flour

The physicochemical properties of Wheat, sweet potato and cashew nut flour blends were studied. The sweet potatoes were washed; peeled; sliced; dried, and milled to Flour. The cashew nuts were also sorted, cleaned and processed into Flour. The Wheat, sweet potato and cashew nut Flour were proportioned into different samples G1 (100:00:00). Control samples were 100 % wheat flour, G2 (80:10:10), G3 (70:20:10) and G4 (60:30:10) respectively. Bread from these different proportions was formulated. The functional, proximate, physical properties and sensory properties were determined. GENSTAT Statistical Software (version 17.0) was used for data analyses. The Data obtained showed the following ranges for Bulk density (0.83-0.84 g/ml), water absorption capacity (3.65-5.78 g/g), oil absorption capacity (1.73-2.76 g/g), swelling index (7.22-7.94) and pH (5.95-6.00). Proximate compositions of the Bread showed the following ranges for moisture (30.14-34.68 %), protein (7.89-13.03 %), fat (8.82-952 %), fibre (1.23-4.34 %), ash (0.56-2.02 %) and carbohydrates (38.86-51.37 %). The physical properties of the Bread ranged from 210.60-247.50 g, 1.27-2.40 mm, 328.70-440 cm3 and 1.33-2.10 for loaf weight, oven spring, loaf volume and specific volume, respectively. Sensory evaluation findings indicated that up to 30 % substitution of sweet potato flour and 10 % cashew nut flour for wheat flour was acceptable in bread formulation.