Abstract
Consumption of cereals is very essential due to the considerable amount of nutrients they provide, especially in wholesome nature. Staple-base breakfast cereals are nutrient dense, more readily available while meeting the traditional food habit of the people. The present study assessed the physicochemical and organoleptic properties of breakfast cereals produced from yellow corn, millet, sorghum, groundnuts, soybean and dates. Fermentation and boiling methods were used to process samples to flour. Applying food-to-food fortification principles, twelve ready-to-use composite gruel (50sg:50sy; 60sg:40sy; 40sg:60sy; 50m:50sy; 60m:40sy; 40m:60sy) and whole cereal (35yc:35sy:10g:20d; 50yc:30sy:10g:10d; 30yc:50sy:10g:10d; 35sg:35sy:10g:20d; 50sg:30sy:10g;10d; 30sg:50sy:10g:10d) flours were formulated and subjected to physical, chemical and sensory evaluations following standard methods. Result revealed high vitamin C (19.16-42.36 mg gruel and 22.77-39.20 mg whole cereal) and improved protein (7.86-
17.5%-gruel and 8.4-8.2% whole cereals) composition in cereal products. Anti-nutrient composition of cereal flours were found to be within the acceptable limit for human, ranging from 0.06-0.58% (phytate), 0.13-0.39% (oxalate), 0.51-0.86% (tannin) to 0.91-2.21% (saponin). Higher viscosity (trough-36-634,
breakdown-42-255, setback-41-683, peak-164-889 & final-88-1317 RVU) and pasting temperature (82- 90°C) was observed in gruel flours while whole cereal flours recorded higher peak-time (5.2-6.9 RVU).
The study revealed low microbial (7.2 x 104 -2.0 x105 cfu/g) and fungi (1.1x103 - 6.2 x104 sfu/g) counts in composite cereal flours. Breakfast gruels were found to be acceptable to the taste panel members, ranking
higher than the control (100% millet) in all the parameters, though not significant (P>0.05). On the other hand, no significant (P>0.05) difference was found in the taste of the control (Golden Morn) and whole
cereal with 20g dates. Slight increase in weight was recorded in gruel (0.05kg) and whole cereal (0.3kg) composite flours after fortification. The potential of dates as a natural sweetener in the traditional food production was explored and culturally acceptable staple-base cereals achieved.