Development and Production of Fermented Flour from Sweet Potato (Ipomea Batatas L.) as a Potential Food Security Product

Abstract

The research investigated the possibility of producing acceptable fermented sweet potato (Ipomea batatas L.) flour. Raw sweet potato was size reduced, fermented (submerge) for 72 hours, drained, dried and milled to produce fermented sweet potato flour. The proximate composition of the final fermented flour was determined and compared with that of the raw sweet potato. The result revealed that the crude protein (4.27%) and carbohydrate (84.81%) contents of the fermented sweet potato flour were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) than in the raw sweet potato which were 1.86% and 31.11% respectively. Also, the fat, crude fibre and ash contents of the fermented flour were significantly lower (P ≤ 0.05) than in the raw sweet potato which were 0.21%, 0.06% and 1.78% for fermented sweet potato flour as against 0.59%, 0.73% and 2.52% for the raw sweet potato flour. During the fermentation period, the microbial profiles of the fermenting medium increases with increase in time while the pH of the medium decreases with time. Pasting properties of the flour showed that the peak viscosity was attained at 278.67 RVA with pasting temperature of 80.35 °C, pasting time of 5 minutes, final viscosity of 391.58 RVA and breakdown viscosity of 78.53 RVA. The study revealed the nutritional quality as well as the pasting characteristics of the fermented sweet potato flour that has a great influence and implication on its utilization as a food security crop.