Abstract
The increasing demand for roasted plantain has brought about recent interest to upgrade the local method of roasting to be more user-friendly, hygienic and versatile. The objective of this work was to design, fabricate and evaluate the performance of a low cost and affordable multi-heat source plantain roaster and to determine the effects of different heat sources (charcoal, gas and electricity) on the proximate and micronutrients composition of the roasted plantain. Heat supplied to each compartment and medium of transfer was determined. The roasted products from different heat sources were evaluated for moisture, crude protein, ash, crude fat, crude fibre and total carbohydrate contents of the samples. Potassium, magnesium and vitamin B6 were also determined. The proximate and micronutrient composition analyses were carried out. The results show that the average capacity and efficiency of the machine is 3.74 kg/h and 96.32% respectively. Moisture content of the fresh plantain is 58.27% while that of roasted plantain using gas, electricity and charcoal are 46.26%, 45.94% and 39.59% respectively. Ash content of fresh plantain is 5.89% while that of roasted plantain using gas, electricity and charcoal are 7.45%, 8.30% and 7.00% respectively. Crude fibre content of fresh plantain is 2.83% while that of roasted plantain using gas, electricity and charcoal are 3.27%, 3.41% and 3.43% respectively. Carbohydrate content of fresh plantain is 23.80% while that of roasted plantain using gas, electricity and charcoal are 33.41%, 32.35% and 43.02% respectively.
 Keywords: Machine design, plantain, moisture content, micronutrient analysis, heat source, roasting
Highlights
Plantain is a starchy, less sweet variety of banana which cannot be eaten raw because it contains indigestible tannins (Idoko and Nwajiaku, 2013; Akomolafe and Aborisade, 2007)
The machine was loaded with 7 fingers of plantain per roasting cycle per compartment, dropped in chamber temperatures by 20 oC, 15 oC and 15 oC respectively for the electricity, gas and charcoal sources after loading
This may be attributed to the product bringing the temperature to equilibrium with the surrounding air since the initial temperature of plantain was lower than that of heated air in the roasting chamber (Ogunmoyela et al, 2016)
Summary
Less sweet variety of banana which cannot be eaten raw (unlike banana) because it contains indigestible tannins (Idoko and Nwajiaku, 2013; Akomolafe and Aborisade, 2007). About 80% of plantains grown throughout the world are of the banana variety (Castello, 2006). One large plantain is about 26 cm in length and 6.5 cm width, having 602 mg of potassium and 140 calories (Izunfuo and Omuaru, 2006). Plantain is a staple food in the developing world and it contains about 52.9% moisture, 0.8% protein, 0.1% fat, 25.5% carbohydrate, 0.3% fibre and 0.63% ash (Marisa, 2006). Plantain is rich in vitamins A, C and B group as well as minerals such as calcium and iron (Ayodele and Erema, 2011). Investigations have shown that cooking methods or processing techniques of foods often lead to losses of vitamins such as water soluble vitamin and the fat soluble vitamins (Yang and Gadi, 2008)
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