The leavening ability of bakers yeast on dough prepared with composite flour (wheat/cassava)

Abstract

The leavening ability of baker’s yeast on dough prepared with composite flour (wheat/cassava) was investigated. The composite flour was prepared in four different proportions and it was discovered that an increase in the quantity of cassava flour caused a decrease in the ability of the baker’s yeast to leaven the dough. However, the composite flour with 10% cassava flour produced an appreciable level of leavening. The effect of temperature on leavening of the composite dough by the baker’s yeast was also investigated. It was found that fermentation of dough at 37oC increased the rate of leavening and an appreciable level of dough size was achieved. The degree of agitation/mixing and the time used for the composite dough was investigated and it was found that longer periods of agitation in minutes produced increased level of dough. The results from the sensory evaluation showed that the bread baked with 10% composite dough was the most acceptable by the panellists. There was no disparity in the scores given to the samples based on age, as the three different age groups gave similar results. Key words: Composite, wheat flour, sensory evaluation.