Proximate, Physical and Sensory Characteristics of Enriched Cake Produced from Wheat and Tiger Nut Flour Blends

Consumers’ attention is shifting towards dietary fiber as more information about its health benefits is unfolding. In Nigeria, owing to the high level of dietary fibre and other inherent nutrients of tigernut, it has been identified as one of the underutilized crops which could be incorporated into cake production. In this study, the effect of substituting tigernut flour for wheat flour on the proximate, physical and sensory properties of cake quality were evaluated. The proximate composition increased with increasing levels of tigernut flour. Crude fibre increased from 1.04 to 2.25%, ashfrom 2.03 to 3.22, crude fat from 4.17 to 7.21 and protein from 10.02-14.53% resulting in a nutritious cake. The physical properties of the cake from the composite flour blends were affected significantly (P ≤0.05) by tigernut substitution. The hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, weight and volume of cakes decreased with increasing tigernut level substitution. Suitable composite cakes which could reduce the incidence of protein-energy malnutrition can be made with up to 20% tigernut flour substitution.