Assessing the sensory characteristics and consumer preferences of yam-cowpea-soybean porridge in the Accra Metropolitan Area

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the sensory properties of porridge made from newly developed yam-legume flour blends and to determine preference among consumers. Thick porridge was prepared from 10 different yam-soybean-cowpea composite flours formulated using mixture design. Sensory evaluation employed 25-man panel to assess colour, aroma, mouthfeel, taste and overall acceptability of the 10 different porridge formulae on a 7-point Hedonic scale. Two highly ranked porridge formulations from the sensory evaluation were adopted for the consumer preference test involving 69 consumers. Sensory evaluation showed no significant difference (p>0.05) between different formulations for all sensory attributes but only taste influenced the overall acceptability. Preparations with a combination of high amounts of yam flour and low levels of cowpea-soybean flour (8:1:1; 5.5:1:1) were ranked highest. Consumer preference survey showed a general preference for porridge formulation with the highest amount of yam flour (8:1:1), with taste, mouthfeel and appearance being the highest attributes selected by consumers