Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L (Lam)) Composite Spaghetti has Good Consumer Acceptability and a Significant Source of Dietary Vitamin A

Abstract

Objective In this study, orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) puree was substituted with wheat flour (48:52%) in the production of spaghetti, herein denoted VitAspag and compared with three existing whole wheat brands (Local, Oba and Spaghetti). Methods Hundred untrained panel list evaluated the colour, taste, stickiness, firmness and overall acceptability using a 5-point hedonic scale. The proximate and β-carotene content of VitAspag was carried out using standard methods and compared with the most preferred existing brand, Spaghetti. Results The sensory scores for all spaghetti brands were above 3, an indication of good consumer acceptability. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference among vitAspag, Local, Oba and Spaghetti with respect to all sensory attributes considered. The moisture, ash and fibre content ranged from 8.90% - 9.50%, 1.15% - 1.20% and 0.42% - 0.62%, respectively. Spaghetti, had a significantly higher protein (2.02% vs. 0.05%; p<0.001) and carbohydrates (81.0% vs. 79.7%; p = 0.024) content compared with VitAspag. VitAspag, was also significantly (p<0.001) higher in β-carotene, almost 1.6 times higher than Spaghetti. A 125 g and 500 g of vitAspag per day will respectively meet 10% and 9.03% of the daily vitamin A requirement of children <5 years (300 µg RAE/day) and pregnant and lactating mothers (1,300 µg RAE/day). Conclusion Ranking VitAspag similar to the existing commercial brand is an indication that consumers will equally accept it. OFSP puree could be composited with wheat flour up to (48:52%) on as is basis to make spaghetti and will contribute to a significant amount of dietary intake of vitamin A.