Effect of Fermentation and Roasting on the Physicochemical Properties of Weaning Food Produced from Blends of Sorghum and Soybean

This study investigated the effect of fermentation and roasting on the physicochemical properties of weaning foods produced from blends of sorghum and soybean. Sorghum and soybean were fermented, roasted and fermented/ roasted, then milled into flours. Untreated sorghum and soybean flours were also produced and serve as the control. A portion of sorghum was malted and milled to obtain malted sorghum flour of which 5% was added to each sample except the control samples. Weaning foods were prepared in the following ratios: (75:20:5), (65:30:5) and (55:40:5) of sorghum:soybean:malt for the treated samples and the control samples contained (80:20), (70:30) and (60:40) of sorghum:soybean. The physicochemical properties of the weaning food blends were determined. Moisture ranged from 5.16 to 8.03%, crude protein 11.43 to 26.72%, crude fat 5.19 to 8.03%, ash 0.91 to 2.72%, crude fibre 0.30 to 1.16% and carbohydrate 57.14 to 71.40%. The buck density ranged from 0.68 to 0.76 g/ml, viscosity 561.33 to 1065 mPas, dispersibility 63.33 to 72.67%, wettability 11.55 to 46.54s, Water absorption capacity (WAC) 8.00 to 8.41 ml/g and gelation temperature 71.00 to 77.67°C. Fermented samples showed a least gelation capacity compared to roasted, fermented/roasted and untreated samples. Fermentation and roasting used in this study showed that the processing methods had marked effect on the physicochemical properties of the weaning foods produced. Thus, its recommendation for domestic processing of weaning foods.