Evaluation of Cyanogen Contents of Cassava and Cassava Based Food Products in Karu, Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria

Abstract

Cyanogen contents of seven most consumed cassava based food products in Nasarawa state were evaluated using the alkaline picrate method. These products were subjected to different processing methods such as peeling, washing, grating, fermentation, drying/dewatering, milling/pulvering and frying. The analyses showed reduction in cyanogens contents ranging from 56.33% to 89.58% compare to raw cassava tubers from which they were all produced. These results also showed that cassava processing methods in which fermentation is involved in the multistep processing stages greatly reduced cyanogen contents of the cassava. However, these processing methods did not remove all the cyanogen from the cassava products but reduced it below 10 ppm, recommended by the World Health Organization as safe limit, suggesting that the cassava underwent proper processing to produce safe products. Consumption of these products will not lead to the lethal dose of 35 mg hydrocyanic acid per kg body weight reported by some authors, hence marketing and consumption of these products should be promoted and efforts made to improve the processing methods to further reduce the cyanogen contents of the products. Keyword: Cassava, cyanogens, fermentation, hydrocyanic acid, picric acid,