Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) Flour Fortification with Soy Flour

A flour was prepared from “sweet”cassava tubers. Cyanogenic acid content was 24.4 mg/kg of flour. Proximate analysis was made; crude protein content was 2.1%. Soy flour with 53.8% protein was used to fortify cassava flour at 5, 10, 15, and 20%. Quality of the cassava flour protein was very low; addition of soy raised the quality. Protein efficiency ratio of 80% cassava-20% soy composite flour was 1.55 when fed to rats. Rats receiving diets with 100% cassava, and 95% cassava-5% soy lost body weight. Diets with 90% cassava-10% soy caused no change in body weight. Soy softened the dough made from cassava-soy flours. Therefore, the smaller amounts of water needed to maintain a uniform dough consistency with increased levels of soy were determined. Dough became darker, more red and more yellow with increased amounts of soy. Panel scores for dough were increased with increased levels of soy up to 15%. Scores for appearance and eating quality for dough with 20% soy were lower than scores for dough containing no soy.