H. N. Aliyu & U.

Sani
Bioscience Research Communications Vol. 21, No. 3, June 30, 2009 Printed in Nigeria 0795-8072/2009 $12.00 + 0.00 2009 Klobex Academic Publishers http://www.klobex.org/brc

BRC 2009053/21307

Production of Biscuit From Composite Flour as a Substitute for Wheat

H. N. Aliyu and U. Sani
Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, Bayero University, Kano, P.M.B. 3011, Kano Nigeria nababaagwa@yahoo.com

(Received June 10, 2009)

ABSTRACT: Biscuits were produced from composite flour comprising of three varying proportions of blends of flours from locally available crops; Tiger nuts, Sorghum and Ground nuts. Sensory evaluation was carried out to determine the acceptability of the products based on their taste, texture and flavour. The result shows that there are no significant differences between the products A, B, C and D. Biscuits A, B, C and D produced contained fat (23.69%, 20.84%, 19.25% and 19.17%); moisture (6.16%, 4.33%, 3.08% and 4.60%); fibre (1.20%, 1.06%, 0.81% and 0.35%); ash (1.36%, 1.70%,1.61% and 0.99%); protein (8.75%, 8.86%, 8.97% and 9.29%) and carbohydrate (60.05%, 64.28%, 67.09% and 65.95%) respectively. Key words: Tiger nut, Sorghum, Ground nut; Biscuit.

Introduction
Nigerians like the taste of baked foods, all have become an essential part of the diet. Most of the biscuits produced in this country are from wheat flour [Wade, 1988]. Biscuits are nutritive snacks obtained from dough which is transformed in to light porous easily digestible and more appetizing product through the application of heat in an oven. They are made from flour, sugar, milk, fat, flavouring agents and other chemical additives. Biscuits can be served with either soft drinks, tea or taken between meals like any other snack [Wade, 1988]. Wheat flour, the main ingredient for biscuits, is prepared in flourmills from wheat imported mainly from United States of America. This importation places a considerable burden on the foreign exchange reserves of Nigerias economy. In an effort to help the third world countries reduce or stabilize their importation, the FAO in 1957 started a study on the technological feasibility of the use of composite flours for the production of biscuits, bread and pastry products [Wade, 1988]. Tiger nut (Cyprus esculentus), is a weed from Cyprus. It is otherwise known as earth almonds. There are two types; the dark or black type and the light brown or yellowish type. Each may be eaten raw or roasted or processed in to a drink commonly called kunun aya in Northern Nigeria. Raw tiger nuts contain 41.40% carbohydrate, 13.30% fat, 3.20% protein, 3.90% fibre, 2.00% ash and 40.80% moisture [Kordylas, 1988] Sorghum, Guinea corn or Great millet (Sorghum bicolor) is the worlds third important food grain being exceeded in the use for food after wheat and rice [Thekoronye and Ngoddys, 1985]. It is widely cultivated in Northern Nigeria [Shuaib, 1992] and used in the production of food and local alcoholic drinks

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[Thekoronye and Ngoddys, 1985]. Sorghum contains 74.40% carbohydrate, 3.00% fat, 9.70% protein, 1.20% fibre, 1.60% ash and 10.80% moisture [Desrosier, 1977]. Groundnut (Arachis hypogea) is one of the leading cash crops of the world in the production of edible oil. It can as well be consumed locally [Desrosier, 1977] or eaten raw, boiled or roasted. It can be made in to peanut butter used in soups and snacks preparation [Thekoronye and Ngoddys, 1985]. Ground nut composition include 11.70% carbohydrate, 47.70% fat, 30.40% protein, 3.20% fibre, 2.50% ash and 5.40% moisture. It is also rich in vitamins B and E [Purseglove, 1972]. Wheat composition includes 10.00% moisture, 2.77% fat, 1.40% ash, 15.74% protein and 71.96% carbohydrate [Ado, 1989]. From this composition, it can be seen that the composite flour can be richer in terms of mineral composition when compared with the more expensive wheat. As such production of biscuits can be made cheaper and easier. It will be of economic importance if our local raw materials could be used in certain proportions to supplement wheat. This will however, not only minimize our foreign exchange but will encourage our farmers to produce or grow more of such crops. The aims of this paper are to produce biscuits from our local raw materials as substitute to the imported wheat, to develop our raw materials and to minimize our foreign exchange reserves.

Materials and Methods

The chemicals and solvents used in this work were of Analar grade. All the glasswares used were washed with detergent and rinsed thoroughly with distilled water and dried in an oven before usage. All weighing were carried out on an electric metler balance model B 154 Preparation of Tiger nut Flour One hundred grams of tiger nuts was cleaned and soaked in water for about 3 5 hours after which it was thoroughly washed. It was then dried at 60oC for about 6 hours and then milled. The flour was obtained by sieving using a sieve of very small mesh. Preparation of Sorghum Flour 100g of sorghum was cleaned and soaked in water for about 30 60 minutes. It was then ground by pounding and placed in a drier at 60oC for 3 hours after which it was milled and sieved. Preparation of Groundnut flour One hundred grams of groundnut was cleaned and partially roasted. It was then ground, dried for about 2 hrs at 60oC and milled. Production of Biscuit Three sets of biscuits (A, B and C) were produced each containing different proportions of tiger nut, sorghum and ground nut flours. A control experiment was set with 100% wheat flour (D). Table 1: Tiger nut, Sorghum, Ground nut and Wheat Flour Ratio. Biscuit A B C D Tiger nut 1 1 1 Sorghum 2 3 4 Ground nut 1 1 1 Wheat 1

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After weighing all the necessary ingredients, two stage creaming up method was used. All the ingredients except flours were mixed thoroughly in a dough mixer while little amount of water was continuously added. The flours and sodium bicarbonate were added with continuous mixing until smooth dough was obtained. A piece of this dough was cut, placed on a clean plat form of board with a rolling pin to roll out the dough until the required uniform texture and thickness were obtained. A sharp edge was used to cut the sheet of the dough into required shapes and sizes. These were transferred on to a greased (with margarine) baking tray. The baking tray was then put inside an oven set at 216oC and baked for 15 20 minutes. After baking, the hot biscuits were removed from the pan and placed on a clean surface to cool down. The biscuits were then packed immediately in polyethylene bags [Namoda, 2002].

Weighing

Mixing

Baking

Cooling

Packaging

Storage

Fig. 1: Flow Chart for Biscuit Production

Proximate Analysis of the Biscuits Ash, Moisture, Fat and Crude Fibre contents were determined as described [A.O.A.C., 1980] while crude protein content was determined by micro Kjeldahl method [Pearson, 1971]

Result and Discussion

There was no significant differences in terms of colour and taste between the products A, B, C, and when compared with the control D which was produced from 100% wheat flour.

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From Table 2, it was found that biscuit A is richest in terms of fat content followed by B then C which is similar to that of control. Therefore, interms of fat content, formulation of C can be adopted because that of A and B can easily cause rancidity [Wade, 1988]. Crude fibre indicates the indigestible part of the food substances when consumed which is undesirable for young children. The crude fibre content as shown in Table 2 indicated that biscuits A and B have higher crude fibre content which can make them undesirable to young children but C which contains 0.81% fibre content can be recommended because its fibre content is within the recommended allowed limit. Moisture content of biscuit A was the highest while biscuit C has least as shown in Table 2. The control experiment D has a moisture content of 4.60% while biscuit C has 3.08%. Therefore, the moisture content of biscuit C is also within the recommended level but that of A and B can easily expose them to microbial attack. Protein analysis shows that the biscuit D has the highest protein content but biscuit C has a value 8.97% close to that of biscuit D and also within the recommended level. In terms of energy, biscuit C can give more energy as it has the highest carbohydrate content higher than that of biscuit D. Biscuits produced from composite flour are likely to contain higher amount of mineral elements compared with the biscuit made from 100% wheat flour. This is due to the individual ash content found in biscuits A, B and C is higher than biscuit D. Considering the individual high nutritive value of the three crops used, such products A, B, and C are expected to be of high nutritional quality. Therefore, biscuit C can selected to be the best among the three biscuits produced because it is either of the same quality or better in terms of richness when compared with biscuit D. Biscuit has been produced from different blends of composite flour comprising of tiger nuts, sorghum and groundnuts. Sensory evaluation has shown that there is no significant difference in the product obtained in terms of taste, colour and acceptability. Table 2 : Proximate Analysis of the Biscuits Biscuit Crude Protein % Ash% Moisture% Fat % Carbohydrate % A 8.75 1.36 6.16 23.69 60.05 B 8.86 1.70 4.33 20.84 64.28 C 8.97 1.61 3.08 19.25 67.09 D 9.29 0.99 4.60 19.17 65.95

References
Ado, G. A. (1989): Chemical Constituents of Wheat, An Unpublished dissertation submitted to the Department of Food Technology, Kaduna Polytechnic, p 1 2 A.O.A.C (1960, 1980): Official Methods of Analysis, 9th and 13th editions Washington D.C. pp 469, 205 207 Desrosier, W. N. (1988): Elements of Food Technology, West Port, Connecticut, USA, AVI Publishing company, pp 467 473 Kordylas, M. (1988): Processing and Preservation of Tropical and Subtropical Foods, Britain, Cactmillan Publishers, pp 605 611 Namoda, T. (2000): Technical scope, A vocational Journal of the Fed. Poly. Kaura Namoda, vol. 4, no.1, pp 32 37 Pearson, D. (1976): Chemical Analysis of Foods, 7th edition, Edinburgh, Churchil Living Stone, pp 204 210 Purseglove, L. W. (1972): Tropical Crops monocotyledons, Longmann group ltd., London, p 120 Shuaib, A. (1992): Production of Biscuits from Tiger nuts, An unpublished work, Department of Food Technology, Kaduna Polytechnic, pp 26 35 Thekoronye, A. I. and Ngoddy P. O. (1988): Intergrated Food Science and Technology for the Tropics, MacMillan Publishers, London, pp 179 180, 249.

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