Title : Nutritional, functional, and sensory characterization of tapioca meal fortified with whole egg powder (wep) at varying substitution levels
Abstract:
Tapioca, a processed starch derivative from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), is a major source of dietary energy in many tropical regions, but it is limited in its nutritional utility due to inherent protein, vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The present study aimed at the effect of WEP on the proximate composition, micronutrient profile, functional properties, pasting properties and sensory acceptability of tapioca meal formulated with WEP. Fortified tapioca meal was prepared using different mass ratio of cassava starch to whole egg powder, which were 100:0, 95:5, 90:10, 85:15, 80:20 and 70:30 (w/w), respectively and processed according to standardized conditions. The proximate composition, vitamin and mineral contents were determined by validated standard analytical methods and the pasting properties were evaluated using a standardized procedure, while the sensory evaluation was performed by a trained panel using a structured hedonic scale. Proximate analysis revealed moisture, crude fat, ash, crude fibre, crude protein, and carbohydrate contents ranging from 0.93–6.80%, 0.01–0.05%, 0.19–0.30%, 0.99–1.43%, 0.22–0.38%, and 91.59–97.80%, respectively. The progressive addition of whole egg powder did significantly (p < 0.05) increase the concentration of protein, ash, crude fibre, vitamin A and certain minerals, thus demonstrating an increase in overall nutritional density when compared to the unfortified control. Results on functional properties showed that bulk density, water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, swelling capacity, solubility index, foaming capacity and emulsification capacity of the formulations varied significantly, indicating the interdependent interaction between starch and egg protein matrices. The pasting analysis using Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) showed that the substitution of egg powder increased with a corresponding decrease in the peak, trough, breakdown, final and setback viscosities, suggesting that the protein in egg powder caused progressive disruption in the swelling behaviour of starch, its gelatinization and paste retrogradation. Results from sensory evaluation showed that the unfortified control had the highest score across all sensory attributes such as colour, taste, mouthfeel, aroma, appearance, and overall acceptability, while all the fortified formulations had moderate to acceptable scores from the panels indicating a good acceptability by consumers. The results indicate that whole egg powder can be used as a biofortification ingredient in tapioca meal, which can effectively enhance the nutritional value of tapioca meal without affecting its overall acceptability.
Keywords: Tapioca; cassava starch; whole egg powder; fortification; nutritional quality; functional properties; sensory acceptability.
