Nutritional Characteristics and Antioxidant Activity of Dough Meal Flour Blends from Acha (Digitaria exilis) Tigernut (Cyperus esculentus) and Sorrel (Hibiscus sabdariffa, Linn.) Seed Protein Isolate

Abstract

This study evaluated the nutritional quality and antioxidant activity of dough meal from acha-tigernut flour blends enriched with sorrel protein isolate. Flour samples were prepared from acha (ACF) and tigernut (TNF) while protein was isolated from sorrel seed (SPI). The flour blends were optimized using Response Surface Methodology design expert 8.3.0.1(trial version) to generate eleven runs. The flour blends were developed into dough meal and evaluated for proximate and sensory attributes, using a commercial flour sample (Cerolina) as control (CNL). Two blends were selected based on their protein, fibre contents and sensory attributes. The dough meal flour blends, i.e., ATS (5% SPI, 45% TNF and 50% ACF); TNS (5%SPI, 42.64% TNF and 52.36% ACF); and CNT (a commercial flour) were evaluated for nutritional quality and antioxidant activity. The formulated dough meal flour samples contained appreciable amount of protein, energy value and antioxidant activity.