Abstract

An investigation into the possibility of using local cereal resources (maize) to develop composite flour suitable for the production of Akara (a deep fried fermented dough) was undertaken. The experimental design was a 4 x 5 x 5 factorial experiment. Factor one was the maize variety (CMS 8806, CMS 8501, CMS 9015 and CMS 8704), factor two the substitution level (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40%) of wheat for maize flour and factor three was the fermentation times (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min). Dough nuts were produced from composite flour from wheat and maize flour. For the production of maize fine flour, wet milling of de-hulled, soaked grain was made followed by drying and sieving. Composite flours (32.4%) and other ingredients (13.5% sugar, 0.5% instant bakers’ yeast and 0.3% iodised salt) were mixed with water, whipped for 10 min and cut into samples of 40 g which were manually shaped into balls. They were allowed to ferment and rise prior to deep frying. Flour samples were analyzed for their physico-chemical and functional properties. A mixed panel of women operating in dough nut production and some regular consumers was trained for sensory evaluation. The sensory attributes considered were colour, taste, texture and overall acceptability on a five point scale. Results showed that maize cultivars did not affect the quality of fine flours from wet milling. In composite flours, proteins, lipids and ash contents were significantly reduced as the level of maize flour increased. An inverse trend was observed with water absorption capacity. Dough swelling capacity and Akara density decreased with increase in maize substitution levels independently of the fermentation time and maize variety. Similarly, sensory scores decreased with increases in the substitution level independently of the maize cultivar used for composite flour preparation. However, Akara from composite flours had overall acceptability scores between 4.2 and 2.8 on a five-point scale. Akara prepared from CMS 8806 and CMS 8704 all of yellow color showed the highest sensory scores. From the results obtained, it could be suggested that composite flour from wheat and maize with up to 40% substitution level is acceptable for local commercial production of Akara with preference given to yellow maize.

Key words: Maize, flour, doughnut, characteristics.