Sensory optimization of an instant brown rice cereal containing tigernut and soybean

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the optimum ingredient formulation for an instant rice-based cereal enriched with tigernut and soybean flours. An extreme vertices design involving three (3) components (brown rice flour, tigernut flour and soybean flour) was used. A slurry of the three (3) was dried on a single drum dryer at 120 °C and 5 rpm. Mixture regression modeling was used to assess the impact of each component on the functional quality and sensory attributes properties of the drum dried product. Graphical optimization of the formulation was performed by superimposing contour plots of individual sensory attributes examined. Predicted regression models showed that tigernut flour, followed closely by rice flour, had the largest effect on overall acceptance of the product. The optimum formulation for an acceptable drum dried product was determined to be rice flour – 46.6 %, tigernut flour – 39.1 % and soybean flour – 14.3 %. The product was stable during storage, as only marginal increment was recorded in the quality attributes assessed. This study provides an avenue for enhancing the utilization potential of both brown rice and tigernut.