Abstract

This study was carried out to study the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of Abacha with different particle sizes. Dried cassava strips (Abacha) were produced in variable length, 2, 2.5 and 5 mm with the average length of 5 cm market size used as control. The proximate, physicochemical, functional and sensory properties were analyzed for various Abacha strips. The proximate composition of the Abacha chips ranged from 9.1 - 13.3% for moisture content, ash 2.5 - 2.8%, protein 1.9%, fibre 1.0 - 1.2%, fat 0.5 - 0.6%, and carbohydrate 80.7 - 84.4%. The physicochemical composition of the Abacha samples showed a pH range of 4.2 - 4.5, total titratable acidity 0.0 - 0.1%, hydrogen cyanide 2.5 - 2.6 mg.100 g- 1, phytate 0.5 mg.100 g-1 and no tannin detected. In general, all the Abacha strips were accepted, although the degree of likeness decreased as the particle size decreased. Consumers preferred market Abacha to the other samples based on familiarity followed by the 5 mm strips. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicated that 5 cm and 5 mm length Abacha sizes accounted for 80.5% of the variation and were high in proximate and physicochemical properties while 2 and 2.5 mm Abacha sizes accounted for 16.3% of the variation with 2 mm higher in functional properties and 2.5 mm length lower than all samples in functional, proximate and physicochemical properties. The reduced particle-sized strips could be used as breakfast cereals.

Key words: Cassava, abacha, particle size, sentiment, functional, consumer acceptability.