Chemical Changes during the Fortification of Cassava Meal (Gari) with African breadfruit ( Treculia africana  ) Residue

The nutritional enrichment of a cassava meal (gari) with African breadfruit seed residue was investigated. Grated cassava (70%) was fermented for 3 days with the incorporation of African breadfruit seed residue (30%) at different stages of the fermentation. The fortified and unfortified gari samples were subjected to nutritional and sensory evaluation. Total cyanide was 1.78±02 mgHCN/100g, for the unfortified gari (batch A) while samples from the two fortified gari (batches B and C) had 1.52±0.1 mgHCN/100g and 1.50±0.2 mgHCN/100g respectively. The water activity of African breadfruit-fortified gari was 1.11-1.13, the swelling capacity was 3.0-3.3, pH was 4.49±0.3. Proximate composition shows that, gari (Batch A) had lower crude protein content (1.96±0.2) as against 9.62±0.3 and 10.71±0.2, for batches B and C respectively. In contrast, unfortified gari had higher crude carbohydrate (81.99±0.2). Ash, moisture and fibre contents were comparable in all samples. Sensory evaluation gave no statistically significant (p>0.05) differences. The fortified gari is capable of reducing the level of malnutrition among the poor in the developing countries, especially in West Africa were gari is a staple.

Keywords
Fortification; Chemical changes; Gari; Treculia Africana; Fermentation; Nutrition