Biscuit making potentials of flours from wheat and plantain at different stages of ripeness

The biscuit making potentials of wheat and plantain (stages 1 and 3 ripeness) flour blends were evaluated. Composite flours were formulated using wheat (white) and plantain flour in ratio 90/101, 80/201, 50/501, 100/0, 90/103, 80/203 and 50/503 at stages 1 and 3 respectively with the superscripts representing the stage of ripeness. The functional properties of the flours, proximate composition, mineral composition and sensory attributes of the biscuit were evaluated. The loose bulk density (LBD) of flours ranged from 0.46-0.53 g/mL, the packed bulk density (PBD) ranged from 0.64-0.76 g/mL. The water absorption capacity (WAC) ranged from 1.19-2.02 g water/g flour and oil adsorption capacity (OAC) ranged from 0.50-1.00 g oil/g flour. The LBD and PBD values of the composite blends were higher than the control (100 % white wheat flour-sample D). The proximate composition ranged from 11.00 %-9.96 % for moisture, 1.21 %-1.27 % for ash, 2.98 %-4.30 % for fat, 11.82 %-12.64 % for protein, 0.97 %-1.52 % for fibre and 69.56 %-71.21 % for carbohydrate. The protein and carbohydrate value of biscuit produced from composite flour 80/203 (sample F) was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) lower than other biscuits. Composite flour 50/503 had the highest protein content (12.64 %). The observed mineral composition varied among the samples. The content of calcium, iron and phosphorus ranged from 5.89-6.14, 0.48-0.78 and 21.97-23.46 mg/100g respectively. The calcium and iron contents of biscuit produced from flour blends F was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher than other biscuits, while the phosphorus content of biscuit produced from composite flour 90/101 (sample C) was higher than other biscuit samples. Sensory evaluation of the formulated biscuit samples showed similar sensory attributes with the control.