SENSORY PROPERTIES OF AKARA (FRIED COWPEA PASTE) AND MOINMOIN (STEAMED COWPEA PASTE) PREPARED FROM FIVE VARIETIES OF COWPEA FLOUR

Abstract

ABSTRACT Akara (fried cowpea paste) and moinmoin (steamed cowpea paste) are foods traditionally prepared from dehulled and wet‐milled seeds. These products were prepared using flour produced from five varieties of cowpea as starting ingredient. The sensory properties of products from flour were compared with those from fresh paste (control) using the Difference from Control Test. Trained panelists (n = 9) rated samples on an 8‐level scale, where 0 = no difference and 7 = extremely large difference at triplicate sessions on separate days for each product. Results showed significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) in mean scores for attributes of products among flour of different cowpea varieties. Mean scores ranged between 0.30 (no difference) to 3.1 (moderate difference) for all attributes of akara, while for moinmoin, a range of 1.0 (very slight difference) to 3.4 (moderate difference) were obtained. Canonical discriminant analysis showed that the most discriminating sensory attributes of akara were crumb sponginess, lightness and crust softness, while those of moinmoin were mouthfeel and moistness. Based on the most discriminating attributes, the varieties California Blackeye 5 and Mississippi silver gave products that were the least different from the control.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSAkara and moinmoin are popular West African foods prepared from cowpea paste, which require laborious and time‐consuming operations to process from seeds. The availability of convenient flour that can be simply rehydrated would greatly simplify the preparation of these foods. However, the acceptance of cowpea flour in the marketplace as an alternative starting ingredient depends on the retention of requisite functionality that would give the desired sensory quality in the products. The sensory attributes of akara and moinmoin identified in the study are those that must not be compromised by the conditions of processing flour from seeds. This knowledge would be useful in the development of an appropriate flour‐processing method.