NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION AND SENSORY EVALUATION OF BREAKFAST CEREAL FROM PEARL MILLET-COCONUT COMPOSITE FLOUR

Abstract

Nutritional composition [proximate composition, vitamins (A, C, B1, B9, B3), mineral (Calcium, Zinc, Iron, Potassium, Magnesium)] and sensory acceptability of breakfast cereal from pearl millet-coconut composite flour were evaluated in this study. Pearl millet (M) and coconut flour (C) were blended into five proportions (100M:0C, 90M:10C, 80M:20C, 70M:30C, 60M:40C) to produce breakfast cereal. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). The proximate composition had mean values of 3.35-15.55% crude fat, 8.50-12.04% crude protein, 1.70-6.00% moisture content, 0.53-0.74% crude fibre, 0.80-1.50% crude ash, and 71.00-78.25% carbohydrates. Breakfast cereal from 60M:40C had the highest fat content (15.55%) while the least (3.35%) was observed for 100M:0C. The increasing substitution with coconut flour significantly decreased the protein, ash and carbohydrate content of the product. The mineral content of the breakfast cereal ranged between 274.83-483.51, 0.32-0.58, 0.82-1.47, 345.56-485.01, 105.27-189.13mg/100g for calcium, zinc, iron, potassium and magnesium, respectively. Breakfast cereal from 60M: 40C had the highest mineral content and potassium was the dominant mineral. The vitamin content ranged between 3.09-3.16, 3.18-3.50, 0.42-0.59 and 0.45-0.64 mg/100g for vitamins A, C, B9 and B3, respectively and 0.26 mg/100g for vitamin B1. All breakfast cereals were accepted by sensory panellists, however, breakfast cereal from 80M:20C had the highest overall acceptability (7.44), followed by 60M:40C (7.38), and 90M:10C (7.32), while the least accepted (5.98) was breakfast cereal without coconut flour (100M:0C). Therefore, coconut flour significantly improved the nutritional content of the breakfast cereal and the composite flour had nutrient composition that could provide better opportunity for its use in future food innovations.