Quality Assessment of Formulated Ready-to-eat Breakfast Cereals from Blends of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) and Unripe Plantain (Musa paradisiaca)

The quality assessment of formulated ready-to-eat breakfast cereals from blends of sorghum, African yam bean and unripe plantain was investigated. Ready-to-eat breakfast products were produced from different flour blends (100:0:0, 65:30:5, 60:30:10, 55:30:15, 50:30:20 and 45:30:25 ratio of sorghum: African yam bean: unripe plantain flour, respectively) by toasting at 150 oC for 5 min. flour blends used to formulate ready-to-eat breakfast product ranged from 18.33 to 40.53 sec for reconstitution time, and 16.50 to 28.50 sec for wettability, respectively. The proximate composition of the formulated breakfast product ranged from 3.03 to 6.06 % for moisture, 1.67 to 3.86 % for ash, 0.79 to 1.48 % for fat, 0.46 to 0.58 % for crude fibre, 1.27 to 5.40 % for dietary fibre, 8.87 to 19.74 % for protein and 68.68 to 85.17 % for carbohydrate content. In-vitro protein digestibility of the product ranged from 69.58 to 85.18%. products ranged from 13.00 to 19.00 mg/100g for magnesium, 10.00 to 22.00 mg/100g for potassium, 0.95 to 3.51 mg/100g for Iron and 22.00 to 72.00 mg/100g for phosphorus. the formulated breakfast product ranged from 5.7 × 104 to 1.4 × 105 Cfu/g for bacteria count and 0.00 to 2.0 × 10 cfu/g for mould count. There were significant (p< 0.05) differences in the sensory scores of the products with sample SAUP2 (60:30:10) showing the highest score of 6.85 and 6.95 for colour and taste, respectively, while the product showed no significant (p> 0.05) difference in texture. Practical Applications : African yam bean is rich in protein and high in dietary fibre and these components are required for effective management of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases due to its low glycemic index. Unripe plantain though low in protein and fat, is rich in dietary fibre (8.82%) and resistant starch (16.2 %) which helps to reduce blood sugar level. Considering the health benefits of unripe plantain and African yam bean composite blend in the preparation of breakfast product might not only impact nutritional benefits but also improve the health status of consumers of such product and consequently, increase their utilization.