Sensory Evaluation of Wheat-Cassava-Bamboo Shoot Composite Bread

Abstract

With the numerous studies pertaining to bamboo shoot utilisation, little have been explored on the bread baking industry and general consumption in Kenya. The objective of this study was to conduct descriptive sensory and consumer acceptability analyses on wheat-cassava-bamboo shoot composite bread. Bamboo shoot flour was composited with wheat: cassava (80:20) at different levels of 0% (control), 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10% and used to make composite bread. In descriptive sensory analysis, Principle Component Analysis (PCA) was used to outline systematic variations in bread sensory attributes. The results of PCA showed the existence of 3 principle components that explained a total variation of 78.5%. The PCA of composite bread sensory attributes indicated 9.75% variation based on the presence of bamboo shoots flour while there was 11.3% variation due to bamboo shoot flour absence. The highest variation (57.4%) was due to intensity of bamboo shoot flour in the bread. Consumer acceptability test was conducted using a 5-point hedonic scale and involved 50 semi-trained panellists. The study found out that 2.5% bamboo shoot flour bread had no significant difference (<i>p </i>> 0.05) in terms of taste, aroma, crumb colour, crust colour and overall acceptability compared to control. However, there was gradual decrease in consumer acceptability of all the attributes tested with increase in proportion of bamboo shoot flour. A substitution level of up to 2.5 bamboo shoot flour in composite bread on overall acceptability was indistinguishable to the control bread; hence has significant potential for incorporation in bakery products. The results of this study show that blending bamboo shoots with wheat-cassava flours for bread making is a suitable strategy to increase bamboo shoot utilisation in the baking industry and improve food security.