Quality Evaluation of Steamed Pastes Produced from Blends of Yellow Maize (Zea mays L.), Melon (Cucumis melo L.) and African Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus phoenicis)

Abstract

Proximate compositions, microbial counts and sensory attributes of steamed paste produced from blends of yellow maize (Zea mays), melon seeds (Cucumis melo L.) and African palm weevil (Rhynchophorus phoenicis) were investigated. The slurries of the three raw materials were independently prepared, combined at different ratios that resulted to 12 samples. Each slurry blend was wrapped in aluminum foil and dropped in boiling water to gelatinize and cook to produce steamed paste. The pastes were analyzed for proximate composition, microbial and sensory properties using standard methods. From the results, the proximate compositions were in the following ranges: Moisture (29.30±0.01 to 39.53±0.02%), ash (0.25±0.01 to 1.60±0.01%), fat (5.49±0.01 to13.66±0.02%), crude fiber (1.25±0.01 to 2.50±0.01%), protein (5.91±0.01 to 10.00±0.01%) and carbohydrate (43.40±0.01 to 53.10±0.01 %). The results were compared with the reference, 100% Cowpea steamed paste popularly known as moi-moi which had the moisture content of 29.30±0.01% and differed significantly (p <0.05) from steamed paste blend (39.53±0.02%); the fibre content of (1.80±0.01%); and the fat content of 9.89±0.01%.  The bacterial count of steamed paste blends ranged from 2.53±0.04 to 5.11±0.13 cfu/g while the reference moi-moi had 3.33±0.12 cfu/g. The fungal count ranged from 1.29±0.08 to 3.42±0.12 cfu/g while the reference sample had 1.44±0.03 cfu/g. The coliform count ranged from 0.00±0.00 to 2.14±0.14 cfu/g. The differences in sensory preferences of the composite steamed paste were not significant (p>0.05) from the 100% cowpea steamed paste and were all very much liked. Conclusively, this study revealed that steamed paste produced from blends of maize, melon and African palm weevil compared favorably with steamed paste of whole cowpea.