Process Development for Steamed Rice ‘Aboloo’; a Traditional Sweetened Snack Food in West Africa

This study aimed at developing a process for using local Ghanaian rice varieties to produce Aboloo; a traditional sweetened snack normally prepared from maize. Ten traditional producers of aboloo were interviewed to determine the critical unit operations a nd factors used in the preparation of aboloo to aid in process optimization. Consumer preference attributes for both baked and steamed aboloo were determined by interviewing 100 consumers using a semi - structured questionnaire. The magnitude of the preferen ce for each attribute was determined using a 5 point scale (maximum = 5, minimum = 1). Critical unit operations identified that affect the quality included dehulling, soaking and fermentation. These unit operations were perceived by processors to affect th e colour and texture of the final product. Four locally produced rice varieties, Beauty, Jasmine 85, Local Perfumed and Togo Marshall, were used for the process development of rice aboloo. For each rice variety, ten composite flour formulations involving rice, maize and wheat flour were made using the extreme vertices design. Sensory evaluation was carried by a trained panel to evaluate rice aboloo samples made from the four rice varieties. Rice aboloo made from Jasmine 85 with composite flour of 55% Jas mine85 rice: 40% maize: 5% wheat flour was found suitable for producing rice aboloo because the subsequent consumer acceptability test carried out on the developed steamed rice aboloo products was found to have the best desirable textural and sensory attri butes.