Studies on the Mineral Compositions and Organoleptic Properties of Fermented and Extruded Ripe Plantain and Groundnut Blend

Extrusion cooking is one of the most efficient and versatile food processing technologies that can be used to produce pre-cooked and dehydrated food products. This study aimed at investigating the mineral compositions and organoleptic properties of fermented and extruded ripe plantain and groundnut blend. Ripe plantain and groundnut samples were obtained from Oja Oba market, Akure. The dehauled groundnut seeds were milled to give a paste after which the oil was removed to give fine flour, plantains were dried and milled and both were kept in an airtight container before use. The unripe plantain and groundnut flours were formulated in the ratio of (ripe plantain: groundnut) 100:0; 80:20; 60:40; 50:50 and 0:100 Sample A (100:0) = 100% ripe plantain flour Sample B (80:20) = 80% ripe plantain flour and 20% groundnut flour, Sample C (60:40) = 60% ripe plantain flour and 40% groundnut flour, Sample D (50:50) = 50% ripe plantain flour and 50% groundnut flour and Sample E (0:100) = 100% groundnut flour. A batch of the flour blends was fermented using submerged state fermentation method for 96 hours. The fermentation process was terminated by oven drying at 60°C for 24 hours and later extruded. The sensory evaluation was carried out on the products. The study revealed that fermentation had significant (p<0.05) effects on high sodium contents (ranging from 37.90±0.00 to 44.80±0.01 mg/g) of the blends, potassium (K) content was highest in fermented blends with values ranging from 115.23±0.31 to 125.06±0.06 mg/g, extrusion and fermentation increased magnesium and calcium contents ranging from 18.00±0.57 to 150.0±0.00 and 50.01±0.24 to 220.0±0.57 mg/g respectively of the blends significantly (p<0.05) while there was no significant difference (p<0.05) in iron content between all the blends. Fermented blends had the highest overall acceptability. The investigation so far revealed that the blending of ripe plantain and groundnut has the potential of producing enriched complementary food for teeming malnourished children of developing countries.