Theophilus Maduabuchukwu Ikegwu1*, IRO Nkama2 and Ifeanyi Gabriel Okafor2
1Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
2Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author: Theophilus Maduabuchukwu Ikegwu, Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
Received: February 04, 2021; Published: January 09, 2023
This research investigated and compared the proximate composition, microscopic and thermal properties of some grains (maize, wheat, and millet), a root crop (cassava) and a leguminous crop (bambara nut) with the intent to formulate novel food product with the desired characteristics for industrial processing. The carbohydrate, moisture, ash, crude fat, crude protein and crude fibre contents ranged from 57.80-82.02%, 5.04-11.77%, 0.36-4.04%, 1.75-5.50%, 7.45-23.54% and 0.67-4.10%, respectively. The thermal properties showed that To, Tp, Tr and ΔH ranged from 79.85-86.36ºC, 86.02-90.26ºC, 89.67-95.44ºC and 0.80-39.07 J/g, respectively. Microscopically, the millet flour showed silvered-white indentations that evidenced presence of protein in the intact structure, unlike the other grains. The increased content of protein in the maize could be attributed to increased activity of α-amylase in the maize grain soaked for 48hrs. The DSC of the flours indicates the A+V-type polymorphs were present in the flours. Wheat and maize flours contained high values of the amylose that could have contributed to the increased values of the enthalpy in their flours, although maturity of the grain during harvest could influence the amylose content and consequently, the enthalpy of foods. The result of the FTIR- Spectroscopy revealed that the different samples had varying structural differences with different levels of orderliness in the structure. Furthermore, the millet flour possessed more ordered structure compared to the other grains. However, the bambara nut flour has the highest ordered structure..
Keywords: Thermal Properties; Scanning Electron Microscopy; Proximate Composition; Flour; Ordered Structure
Citation: Theophilus Maduabuchukwu Ikegwu., et al. “Comparative Studies of the Proximate, Microscopic and Thermal Properties of Processed Maize, Wheat, Millet, Cassava and Bambara Nut Flours". Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 7.2 (2023): 38-47.
Copyright: © 2023 Theophilus Maduabuchukwu Ikegwu., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.