NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION, MICROBIAL AND SENSORY PROPERTIES OF FURA TREATED WITH Aframomum danielli

Abstract

Spices have been reported to impart nutrients, improve shelf life and overall sensory properties of foods. The incorporation of naturally occurring materials like spices in food production has proved to be a promising alternative to the use of chemicals due to public health concern. The effects of aqueous extract of Aframomum danielli at varying level of concentration on the nutritional, microbial and sensory properties of fura were investigated and analysed using standard methods. The moisture, protein, fat, crude fibre and ash content of the fura samples ranged from 51.39-54.62%, 7.49-12.02%, 1.41-1.80%, 0.41-0.99% and 0.19-0.57% respectively. The calcium, sodium, potassium, iron, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus content of the fura samples ranged from 1.9-2.4 mg/100g, 0.94-1.2 mg/100g, 0.23-0.29 mg/100g, 48.25-63.2 mg/Kg, 8.25-8.86 mg/kg, 1225-1352.7 mg/kg and 16.72-18.44 mg/kg respectively. The bacteria and mould count ranged from 15-30 x 10⁵ cfu/g and 10-20 x 10⁵ cfu/g respectively. The bacteria count of the untreated fura increased 10-fold while the mould count tripled after 48 hours of production. There existed significant differences (P>0.05) between the untreated and treated fura samples in all the parameters examined. The treated fura samples compared favourably with untreated sample in all the sensory properties evaluated, while being more acceptable after 48 hours of production. The use of the aqueous extract of Aframomum danielli brought about a general increase in the nutritional properties of fura samples, reduced microbial load, thus improve shelf stability and general acceptability of fura analysed.