Abstract

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Cassava roots peeling remains a serious global challenge due to their varying sizes and shapes. This results in over or under-peeling during mechanized and automated operations. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of chemical peeling on physiochemical, microbiological and functional characteristics of some cassava products. Yellow-fleshed cassava (IITA-TMS-IBA070593) was peeled by immersing the roots in 15% NaOH solution (lye) for 5 minutes. Softened peels were removed with brush under running water and neutralized with 3% citric acid solution at 30oC. Cassava peeled with sharp stainless steel knife was used as control. Peeled roots were fermented into stiff dough mill known as Gari and Fufu after 72 and 96 hours respectively. pH, total titratable acidity (TTA) and total plate count (TPC), bacterial and fungal counts were determined on fermenting mash at 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours respectively. Results showed that pH of submerged state fermenting mash for fufu and solid state fermenting mash for gari decreased as TTA increased during fermentation. pH decreased from 8.29 at 0 hour to 5.34 at 96 hours, while TTA increased from 0.20 at 0 hour to 1.60 at 96 hours. TPC increased from 0.5x 104CFU/g to 1.7x 104CFU/g, lactic acid bacteria count (LABC) increased from 1.9 x 104CFU/g to 20.8 x 104CFU/g, while fungal count increased from 1.8 x 104 CFU /g to 8.4 x 104 CFU /g. Dispersibility ranged from 40.50% to 75.50%, bulk density ranged from 0.59g/ml3 to 0.78g/ml3, water absorption capacity varied between 1.80g/g and 6.00g/g, while swelling power ranged from 14.39% to 15.50%. Products made from chemically peeled cassava compared favourably with knife peeled ones

Keywords: Yellow-fleshed cassava, peeling, microbiological quality, functional characteristics