Research Journal of Food Science and Nutrition

Production of nutritious low cost complementary foods is a panacea to malnutrition in developing countries. The objective of this study was to examine the complementary effect of cowpea on some quality attributes of maize flour. Flour blends were produced from maize and cowpea flours in the following ratios of maize: cowpea; 90:10, 80:20, 70:30 and 100% maize as control. Physicochemical (proximate, mineral and functional properties) and microbiological analyses were carried out on the flour blends The proximate result showed that the protein content ranged from 8.85 to 10.52%, total ash, 1.55 to 1.93%; fat content, 10.50 to 11.96%; moisture content, 5.05 to 5.77% and fibre content, 9.88 to 14.43%. The blend with 30% cowpea substitution gave the highest value. It was observed that fat content was not affected by cowpea substitution. Mineral determination showed that potassium, sodium, zinc, and iron contents increased with cowpea substitution in the blends, with 30% cowpea substitution having the highest values. Calcium contents were 3.34, 3.36, 3.39 mg/kg for 10%, 20% and 30% cowpea substitution respectively; while calcium was not detected in 100% maize. Functional properties evaluated showed that bulk density ranged from 0.72 to 0.81g/ml, swelling index, 0.66 to 1.03 ml/g, least gelation, 2.10 to 6.11%, foaming, 7.67 to 15.36%, water absorption, 2.41 to 3.23%, oil absorption 1.24 to 1.45%, emulsion capacity, 8.76 to 37.15% and emulsion stability 7.43 to 14.13%. Microbiological evaluation for the flour blends showed that total viable count ranged from 3.80 to 4.7 x 10³Cfu/ml, while yeast and mould count ranged from 2.2 to 3.17 x 10³Sfu/ml for blends. The overall result showed that 20% cowpea substitution is the most adequate percentage to produce an acceptable and nutritious flour blend from maize and cowpea which can be useful for pastries and confectioneries.