Of all the species of
Dioscorea
,
Dioscorea alata
possesses higher multiplication ratio and better
storability, and requires less capital and labour to produce than the most common specie,
Dioscorea rotundata
.
Exploitation of the industrial potential of
D. alata by diversifying its utilisation through the development of novel
products will expand its utilisation. This study therefore investigated the potential of developing instant poundo
yam flour from
D. alata. Instant poundo yam flour was prepared from
D. alata by peeling, dicing and immersing
yam tubers in sodium metabisulphite solution (800 ppm for 20 min). The tubers were thereafter blanched at 70 °C
for either 5 or 10 min, dried in a cabinet dryer at 60 °C for 72 hr, milled and sieved (600 µm) to obtain two
experimental samples of poundo yam flours. The proximate composition of the flours was determined using
standard methods. Sensory evaluation was conducted to determine the sensory attributes [colour, flavour, taste,
textural quality (strecthability, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, smoothness) and general acceptability] of the flours.
The two instant poundo yam samples were further compared with a commercial poundo yam in terms of the
sensory attributes. There was no significant difference (p≤0.05) in the proximate composition of the two
experimental instant poundo yam samples but their textural quality differed significantly (p≤0.05). Instant poundo
yam blanched for 10 min recorded higher sensory scores than the one blanched for 5 min and compared fairly well
with the reference sample. An acceptable instant poundo yam has been developed from
D. alata.
