Nutritional quality of soyplantain extruded snacks

Abstract

The nutritional qualities of extruded plantain snacks fortified with full fat and defatted soy flour were evaluated. Snacks were prepared by extrusion of soy-plantain flour blends (1:1 and 1:2 w/w) in a single screw extruder of die diameter 8cm operated at standard processing conditions barrel temperature 150°C, screw speed 250 rpm). Chemical analysis showed that the incorporation of soy flour into plantain greatly increased the nutrient content of the extrudates while the extrusion processing completely eliminated the trypsin inhibitor activity of the extrudates. The preferred snack had a low fat content, high carbohydrate, ash and protein with high digestibility. Storage stability trials on the snack extrudates for six weeks showed that the snack could be stored for a long period without going rancid, hence producing a reasonable shelf life. The increase in nutrient and absence of anti-nutritional factors suggest a safe snack, with a good potential for meeting the nutrient requirement of school children.