Quality characteristics of bread produced from composite flours of wheat, plantain and soybeans

The use of soy flour (SF) and plantain flour (PF) substitution in wheat flour (WF), from 0 to 15% each, for the production of bread was investigated. The proximate analysis, sensory evaluation and aerobic plate count (APC) of the bread samples were determined. The crude protein, crude fiber, ether extract and ash contents of the soy supplemented breads (SSBs) increased with progressive increase in the proportion of soy flour, with the 15% SSB having highest values of 8.39, 0.14, 2.46 and 1.17%, respectively, while lowest values were recorded for the whole wheat bread (WWB). The carbohydrate content was observed to decrease with corresponding increase in the percentage of soy flour in SSBs. The sensory evaluation shows that no significant differences were observed between the WWB and the 5% SSB in the sensory attributes of aroma, internal texture, taste and general acceptability (p < 0.05), but differences were significant in crust, shape and appearance. The crude protein of the plantain supplemented breads (PSBs) and the WWB ranges between 6.88 and 7.01%, with the WWB recording the highest value. The ash content increased with progressive increase in the proportion of the PF, the highest value (0.95%) was recorded for the 15% PSB. There were no significant differences (p < 0.05) between the WWB and the PSBs up to 10% PF substitution in all the sensory attributes tested; crust, taste, aroma, shape, internal texture, appearance and general acceptability. Hence the PSBs had comparable sensory and nutritional qualities to the WWB, while the SSBs had higher proteins contents than the latter. However the WWB had highest Hedonic mean scores in all the sensory attributes tested.