Abstract

Plantain flour was prepared from matured-unripe fruits of Agbagba cultivar, protein concentrate was prepared from bambara groundnut seeds using the alkaline extraction method, plantain cookies were produced using different levels of plantain flour substituted with bambara groundnut protein concentrate ranging from 0-25% and using 100% wheat flour as control. Physical characteristics, proximate composition, sensory properties and in-vitro protein digestibility of the cookie samples were determined. Cookies prepared from 15% bambara groundnut protein concentrate and 85% plantain flour compared favourably in physical characteristics (weight, height, diameter and hardness) with the control (100% wheat flour). Addition of bambara groundnut protein concentrate significantly improved the crude protein content (17.8%), ash content (2.8%), crude fibre (9.2%) and energy (434.0 kcal/100g) of the cookies compared to values obtained from 100% wheat flour. Sensory evaluation showed that cookies with 15% bambara groundnut protein concentrate and 85% plantain flour was preferred in terms of colour, flavor and general acceptability with mean scores of 8.1, 8.3 and 7.8, respectively and showed no significant difference (P ? 0.05) with the control with mean scores of 8.6, 8.5 and 8.0, respectively. However, in-vitro protein digestibility of the cookies increased from 2.74% in cookies with 100% plantain flour to 62.81% in samples with 25% bambara groundnut protein concentrate and 75% plantain flour.

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