Chemical and Microbiological Assessment of Aadun Produced from Varying Proportions of Maize and Plantain Blends

Abstract

In this study, a maize based local snack aadun was formulated from yellow maize flour and ripe plantain blends in a bid to improve its quality. The snacks were subjected to microbial analysis using pour plate method, proximate composition, mineral content and the sensory properties of the snacks were assessed. The results indicated bacterial count ranging from 1.20 to 2.80 x 102 cfu/g. Also, there were no coliforms and enteric bacteria on the aadun samples albeit, there were more bacteria on aadun supplemented with plantain. Two bacteria and three fungi were isolated from the aadun samples, they were Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Aspergillus niger, and Rhizopus stolonifer. The protein and carbohydrate were comparable for the samples while the higher moisture, fiber, ash and carbohydrate were recorded in plantain supplemented aadun with significant increase at a higher content of plantain. Sample C had the highest moisture (6.72%), fiber (7.62%) and ash (2.39%) content in comparison with the other samples whereas, the plain aadun had higher crude fat (32.29%) compared with the aadun containing plantain. The level of calcium and magnesium in the plain and aadun containing plantain were similar without significant differences. However, the level of potassium and phosphorus were significantly higher in aadun supplemented with plantain than in the plain aadun whereas sodium was found to be higher in plain aadun (289.20 mg) than the supplemented samples. There was no significant difference in the appearance and aroma of the plain aadun and plantain supplemented aadun. However, aadun with 50% plantain was ranked as the most preferred samples in terms of taste, texture and overall acceptability with a score of 8.41, 6.31 and 8.33 while the plain aadun had 4.52, 4.22 and 5.79 respectively for these properties. These indicate that aadun may be improved with inclusion of plantainup to 50% proportion.