Functionality Enhancement of Composite Cassava Flour in the Production of Maize Tuwo (A Non-fermented Maize-Based Food Dumpling)

The study was focused on the evaluation of textural and sensory quality enhancing functionality of cassava flour in the production of maize tuwo (a non-fermented maize-based food dumpling). The cassava flour was added to maize flour at the level of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% (w/w), respectively. The bulk density and water holding capacity of maize/cassava flour mixes ranged from 0.77–0.83 g/cm³ and 1.91–2.05 g/g, respectively, while those of 100% maize flour were 0.84 g/cm³ and 2.09 g/g, respectively. There were variations in the pasting properties of maize/cassava flour mixes including the pasting temperature (75.4–78.8°C), peak viscosity (112.1–170.0 RVU), breakdown viscosity (38.4–53.7 RVU) and final viscosity (132.1–142.2 RVU), while those of 100% maize flour were 74.6°C, 108.1 RVU, 38.1 RVU and 148.3 RVU, respectively. The colour characteristics of tuwo prepared from maize/cassava flour mixes showed an increase in the colour lightness, L*-value (68.6–71.8) and chroma, C-value (9.4–11.4) while tuwo from 100% maize flour gave 67.7 and 9.1, respectively. The cohesiveness indexes (15.4–24.2%) of tuwo from maize/cassava flour mixes increased with an increase in the quantity of cassava flour in the mix while that from 100% maize flour was 15.2%. The softness indexes (17.5–18.4°mm) of tuwo from the mixes were also higher than that from 100% maize flour (17.4°mm). The sensory quality rating of tuwo from maize/cassava flour mixes showed that tuwo from 25% cassava flour inclusion was the highest in terms of texture (hand-mouldability), taste and overall acceptability while that from 30% cassava flour inclusion was the highest in terms of colour.