PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF SOME PEARL MILLET HYBRIDS AND THEIR COUSCOUS

PRODUCTION POTENTIAL

Nkama, I B. C. Hamaker; I. Angarwai; .Hassan, M. J; Diarra.M; and B. Bababe

Millet production, utilization

Major coarse grain for human consumption• Staple diet to millions• Provide calories, proteins, vitamins & minerals• Their important as food resource have increased

Due to drought in the area of production• Grown for food security, marginal land use and

economic purposes

Millet production, utilization

• Millet represents less than 2% of world cereal utilization

• Millet utilization is confined to the developing countries

• Over 80% of the world’s millet is used as food (over 90% in Asia and Africa)

• The remainder being used as feed (7% seed, beer, & waste)

• Per caput consumption of millet varies between countries

• It is highest in Africa• Niger 75%, 30% in Nigeria and other countries, 25%

in Namibia and 20% in Uganda

Millet production, utilization

• Pearl Millet is a good source of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals

• It is processed into several foods such as kunu, fura, ndaleyi, tuwo and couscous among others.

• Pearl millet production over the last two decades has only increased by 0.7 %.

• It has been reported that increase in yield by 21% over land races is possible through the introduction of pearl millet hybrids (Andrews et al., 1993).

• Couscous is an agglomerated, steamed product which is a preferred staple food in many Western African countries

The objective of this study

• Determine the proximate composition of five Pearl Millet Hybrids and

• To determine their potential to produce acceptable couscous

MATERIALS AND METHODS• Five Pearl millet hybrids used in this study were obtained from

Lake Chad Research Institute, Maiduguri, • The proximate composition (moisture, protein, fat, ash and

carbohydrate) of pearl millet hybrids and couscous were determined using (AOAC, 1984) methods.

• Couscous was made from cleaned dehulled millet grain by grinding, sieving to obtain fine flour. The flour was mixed with water to form dough which was passed through a coarse sieve to obtain agglomerates. The agglomerates was steamed on a perforated pot and then dried to safe moisture levels.

• Their sensory evaluation involved 30 untrained panelists from the University of Maiduguri. The couscous and the control were cooked, using standard methods and the colour, taste, texture and overall acceptability assessed using a 9 point hedonic scale.

Table1. Proximate composition of pearl millet hybrids and couscous produced from them

Pearl millet

hybrids

Proteins (%)

Ash(%)

Fat (%)

Moisture (%)

Carbohydrates (%)

Hybrid Couscous Hybrid Couscous Hybrid Couscous Hybrid Couscous Hybrid Couscous

LCIC MH 99-39

10.84bc 8.13c 1.69a 0.497c 3.912c 1.395b 6.93a 5.49b 76.63a 84.49bc

LCIC MH 99-33

11.12b 9.50b 1.60ab 0.502b 4.588c 0.944d 6.87a 5.28c 75.85a 83.78c

LCIC MH 99-10

11.69a 8.65bc 1.71a 0.436bc 4.577b 1.157c 6.48c 5.44b 75.54b 84.27bc

LCIC MH 99-12

11.07b 6.93d 1.68a 0.415d 4.669ab 1.001c 6.78b 4.94d 75.99a 86.72a

LCIC MV-1

10.42c 7.80c 1.50ab 0.473c 5.611a 0.980cd 6.77b 5.84a 75.70ab 84.91b

Control - 11.72a - 0.740a - 2.015a - 6.49a - 78.25d

Values are means of duplicate determinations; Values with different superscript vertically along a column are statistically significant (P < 0.05)

Table 2: Sensory evaluation of couscous from some pear millet hybrids

Samples Colour Taste Texture Overall

acceptability

LCIC MH 99-39 7.3b 6.8b 7.1b 7.3b

LCIC MH 99-33 6.8cd 6.9b 7.2b 6.9bc

LCIC MH 99-10 6.5d 6.7b 6.5c 6.6c

LCIC MH 99-12 7.1c 6.4c 6.3c 6.7c

LCIC MV-1 7.2b 6.3bc 6.7bc 7.0b

Control 8.0a 7.6a 7.5a 7.9a

Values are means of duplicate determinations, Values with different superscript vertically along a column are statistically significant (P < 0.05)