DIVERSIFYING TRIFOLIATE YAM (DIOSCOREA DUMETORUM) UTILIZATION: EFFECT OF FRYING TEMPERATURE ON CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND SENSORY ACCEPTABILITY OF FRIED CHIPS

A.A. Adebowale, O.O. Tella, S.A. Sanni
Dioscorea dumetorum (Kunth) Pax is an indigenous underutilized Nigerian yam, rich in protein (9.6%), reasonably balanced in essential amino acids (chemical score of 0.94) and contains easily digestible starch as well as desirable medicinal values compared to other yam varieties. Despite the nutritional advantages of trifoliate yam, it is highly underutilized in Nigeria. A major limitation to its use is the tuber hardening which begins a few hours after harvest thus becoming hardened and hard to chew even after long hours of cooking, making their consumption almost impossible. This study was therefore conducted to find convenient, nutritional and organoleptically acceptable alternative uses for trifoliate yam through deep fat frying. Two cultivars (white and yellow) of trifoliate yam were sliced into thin chips of uniform sizes and fried in vegetable oil at different temperatures (140-180°C). The chemical composition and sensory acceptability of the fried chips were determined. Moisture content of the fried chips from white and yellow cultivars ranged from 5.59-2.51 and 6.16-10.20%, respectively. Ash, fat, crude fiber, protein and carbohydrate contents of the fried chips were significantly (P<0.05) affected by frying temperature and cultivar. Saponification value, peroxide value, iodine value and free fatty acids, which are indices of rancidity and hence stability of the fried chips under storage, were significantly (P<0.05) affected by frying temperature and tuber variety. However, the values were generally lower in fried chips from the white cultivar which implied that fried chips from the white cultivar will be more shelf stable than those from the yellow cultivar. The sensory panelist scores of the fried chips showed that chips fried at 160 and 170°C possessed the highest sensory acceptability for white and yellow cultivars, respectively. The study concludes that fried chips of desirable chemical composition, shelf stability and sensory acceptability are obtainable from white and yellow Dioscorea dumetorum tubers.
Adebowale, A.A., Tella, O.O. and Sanni, S.A. (2013). DIVERSIFYING TRIFOLIATE YAM (DIOSCOREA DUMETORUM) UTILIZATION: EFFECT OF FRYING TEMPERATURE ON CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND SENSORY ACCEPTABILITY OF FRIED CHIPS. Acta Hortic. 979, 597-601
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.979.64
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.979.64
underutilized, hardening, convenient, organoleptic, stability, consumption
English

Acta Horticulturae