Physical properties of parboiled milled local rice varieties marketed in South-East Nigeria.

Physical properties of rice grain is important for mechanisation and proper post-harvest handling operations to prevent post-harvest loss and achieve high head-rice grains. Knowledge on the physical properties of Nigeria's local rice is limited which has led to losses and production of low quality grains characterised by large amount of brokens and poor appearance. Physical properties of 18 local and 3 imported rice varieties (control), were evaluated using standard methods. The physical properties evaluated were grain dimensions, Arithmetic mean diameter, (AMD) geometric mean diameter (GMD), square mean diameter (SMD), sphericity, aspect ratio, surface area, general appearance, dockage and aroma. Most (77.78%) of the local rice varieties were long grain rice, 50% were slender grains and 50% were bold grains, 77.78% of the local rice varieties were heavy grains. The AMD, GMD and SMD of local rice grains ranged from 3.29-3.86 mm, 8.02-10.36 mm and 4.75-5.82 mm, respectively. The sphericity, aspect ratio and surface area were in the range of 51.25-59.23%, 0.31-0.46 and 21.87-29.44 mm2, respectively. A significant percentage (50%) of the local rice were grey coloured and unappealing in appearance. All the local rice varieties had dockage (5-70%) while the imported rice varieties had no dockage and possessed translucent light-cream to yellow shades and were appealing in appearance. These data are important for correct coupling and adjustment of post-harvest processing machine to prevent losses and produce high head-rice with appealing appearance.

Production, acceptability and microbiological evaluation of weaning food formulations.

Weaning food formulations were produced from pearl millet cultivar (SOSAT C-88), cowpea and groundnut in the ratio of 70:20:10 and 5 per cent malt from six pearl millet cultivars (SOSAT C-88, ZANGO, EX-BORNO, ICMV IS 94206, GWAGWA, GB 8735) and one sorghum cultivar (ICSV III) were added to produce seven formulations plus the one without malt. Microbiological quality of eight weaning food formulations was evaluated. Twenty weaning mothers were used to determine the acceptability of gruels from the eight weaning food formulations using a nine-point hedonic scale. Addition of 5 per cent malt did not affect the microbial count of weaning food formulations. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Klebsiella aerogenes and Aspergillus niger were found in all the weaning food formulations. Shigella and Salmonella were not encountered in this study. Addition of 5 per cent SOSAT C-88, ZANGO, EX-BORNO, ICMV-IS 94206 and GWAGWA malt improved the taste and texture of weaning food formulations. The population of micro-organisms isolated from weaning formulations was not high enough to produce effective dose. However, the need for processors of weaning foods to adopt strict hygiene practices cannot be overemphasized.

Nutrient and sensory qualities of kunun zaki from different saccharification agents.

Kunun zaki--a cereal-based non-alcoholic, non-carbonated beverage--was studied. The ratio of blends of major ingredients, nutrient, amino acid content and sensory qualities of kunun zaki generated with different saccharifying agents were investigated. The main ingredients of the formulations were malted rice, sweet potato, soybeans and Cadaba farinosa (Dangarafa or Legel in Hausa), each used separately with sorghum to produce a kunun zaki type. The weight ratios of the major ingredients were 8:91 for malted rice-sorghum, 7:92 for sweet potato-sorghum, 9:90 for soybean-sorghum and 4:95 for Cadaba farinosa-sorghum blends with ginger contributing 1% in each case as a spice. The nutrient composition of kunun zaki samples from different saccharifying agents ranged from 87 to 91% for moisture, 3.19 to 7.86% for crude protein, 0.37 to 0.75% for fat, 0.93 to 1.20% for ash and 2.69 to 5.84% for carbohydrate. Glutamic acid (4.49-11.66 g) was the most abundant amino acid in the samples while cysteine was the least abundant (0.34-1.45 g) in all the samples. The lowest concentration of all the essential amino acids except for tryptophan occurred when malted rice was used (0.44-1.40 g). Among the essential amino acids, cysteine, valine, isoleucine and methionine occurred in extremely low quantities compared with FAO/WHO reference protein values. The dual role (saccharification and enrichment) of soybean in kunun zaki processing is a desirable attribute and offers an advantage over the other agents. The different saccharifying agents had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on colour and flavour of kunun zaki but did influence sweetness, mouthfeel and overall acceptability. The beverage made with malted rice was most liked overall.

Traditional production, consumption and storage of Kunu--a non alcoholic cereal beverage.

A survey of the production, consumption and storage of Kunu was carried out. Some of the information included consumption rate, processing techniques and equipment, producer's status and grains used. About 73% consume Kunu daily, 26% occasionally; 1% know it is produced but may or may not be consuming it. Millet (Pennisetum typhoideum), sorghum (Sorghum vulgare), maize (Zea mays), rice (Oryza sativa) and acha (Digitalis exilis) were used in its production in decreasing order of preference. The grains were used singly or combined; sorghum/millet was the most common combination in a ratio of 1:2 (w/w). Steeping was done in ordinary water for 12-72 h, depending on the grain type, in local clay pots, plastic buckets, calabashes or basins or 5-7 h in warm water (60-70 degrees C). The grains were dry or wet milled with or without spices such as ginger, red pepper, black pepper, clove and garlic. Other ingredients introduced included: sweet potatoes, malted rice, malted sorghum and Cadaba farinosa crude extract. Both dry and wet milling was done with grinding mills, mill stones or mortar and pestle, depending on locality. The product was then cooked into a thin free flowing gruel. The various types of kunu were: Kunun zaki, Kunun gyada, Kunun akamu, Kunun tsamiya, Kunun baule, Kunun jiko, Amshau and Kunun gayamba. Kunun zaki was the most commonly consumed. Production and consumption cut across all social classes of the society.

Survey of fura production in some northern states of Nigeria.

The objective of this research was to conduct a survey related to the production process for fura. Fura is a staple food for the Fulanis and Hausas. The single most important cereal grain for fura production is millet. A significant difference exists among respondents on the variety of millet chosen for fura production. A significantly (p = 0.05) greater proportion indicated that 'gero' is the variety in common use. Spices are indispensable as an ingredient in fura production with ginger being the single most important spice (p = 0.01). The traditional pounding method for processing millet into flour is still very much used. The implication of this is highlighted and a possible solution of optimizing the fura production process is recommended. Strictly speaking, fura is distributed with a minimum of packaging. The choice of suitable packaging provided protection during a generally short shelf-life and for local distribution. With increasing influence of advertising upon customers, small food processing enterprises making fura will have to improve the packaging and preservation of their products if they are to survive the competition.

Studies on production, physiochemical and sensory properties of a standard kilishi ingredient mix powder.

The quality of kilishi, a sun dried roasted meat product vary considerably due to lack of consistent standardized non meat ingredient portion (spices and condiments) used for its preparation. In this study, an instant standard kilishi ingredient mix powder was developed. The mix powder contained 9.1% moisture, 49.7% protein, 8.3% fat, 3.2% fibre, and 4.4% ash. Particle size of the mix developed was finer than the traditional one. Yield of kilishi increased with increasing concentration of the standard mix powder used for infusion. The highest yield (87%) was obtained at 60% slurry concentration of the mix compared to 59% yield when the traditional paste was used for infusion. Sensory attributes of kilishi produced using 60% slurry concentration of the standard mix was rated better than a commercial kilishi product (P < 0.05).

Traditional production and chemical composition of Ndaleyi, a Nigerian fermented pearl millet food.

Ndaleyi, a fermented, sun dried agglomerated powder produced from pearl millet or sorghum is one of the most popular foods consumed in Nigeria, mostly by the Kanuri people of Borno State. Its traditional production is described. The mean yields of ndaleyi (mainly starch), chir ('millet gluten') and 'bran' (overtail or bina) were 30.6, 22.5 and 21.5%, respectively. A mean yield loss of 20% was observed. Chemical analysis revealed that chir and 'bran' have higher protein, fat and ash contents than ndaleyi. The titratable acidities (as percent lactic acid) of ndaleyi and chir were 0.9 and 0.3, while their pH values were 3.3 and 3.5, respectively.

Fungi associated with stored unprocessed cowpea and groundnut varieties available in Borno State, Nigeria.

Five stored unprocessed cowpea (Vigna spp) and four groundnut (Arachis hypogeae) varieties available in Borno State were examined for the mould flora. The degree of infestation of the grains ranged from 31% to 100% and 68% to 86% for surface sterilized cowpea and groundnut respectively. The mould flora commonly encountered were species of the genera Aspergillus. Penicillium species, Scopulariopsis species and Trichoderma species were also found. The flora of the cowpea was dominated by Aspergillus niger while Aspergillus flavus was the dominant mould on groundnut.