Amino Acid Profile and Sensory Attributes of Flour Blends from Bambara Groundnut, African Arrowroot Lily and Soybean for Akpekpa Production

Abstract

This study evaluated the amino acid profile of flour blends produced from Bambara groundnut, African arrowroot lily and soybean, as well as the sensory quality of akpekpa prepared from these blends. Akpekpa was produced by mixing the flour blends with wet-milled pepper, onions, seasoning and salt, after which 20 ml palm oil and 60 ml hot water (70 °C) were added and stirred into a uniform paste. The paste was allowed to stand for 30 minutes, stirred again then dispensed into stainless cups (400ml capacity) to ¾ full, cooked for one hour and allowed to cool. Amino-acid analysis showed that blending improved both essential and non-essential amino-acid contents, with glutamic acid (1.34%) being the most abundant and arginine (0.18%) the least. Incorporating African arrowroot lily and soybean flours slightly reduced the sensory scores of the products; however, the blend containing 90% Bambara groundnut, 5% soybean and 5% African arrowroot lily was the most acceptable overall. The findings indicate that adding African arrowroot lily and soybean to Bambara groundnut flour enhances its amino-acid profile and can still yield an acceptable akpekpa product.