Proximate Composition, Sensory Properties and Microbial Quality of Chin-chin Developed from Wheat and African Walnut Flour Blends for Household Food Security

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the proximate composition, sensory properties and microbial quality of chin-chin developed from wheat and African walnut flour blends as a means of achieving household food security.

Methodology: African walnut was processed into flour. Chin-chin was prepared from blends of wheat and African walnut flours using 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50 of wheat flour to African walnut flour (AWF), and 100% wheat flour as control. Samples were subjected to sensory evaluation within 30 min of production. Proximate analysis was carried out using standard methods. The samples were also stored for 3 weeks and evaluated at weekly intervals for total bacterial and fungal counts.

Results: composition of the chin-chin revealed a significant (p<0.05) increase in ash (0.42-1.38%), fat (34.39-40.03%), crude protein (5.53-7.95% protein), crude fibre (0.98-1.86%), and energy contents (402.65-414.08kcal) with a decrease in moisture (3.31-4.85%) and carbohydrate (45.59-53.84%) . Sensory analysis of the chin-chin showed that the control chin-chin was more preferred than all other samples. This was followed closely by chin-chin substituted with 10% African walnut flour having mean scores above 6 for all sensory attributes. Total bacterial counts (TBCs) and fungal counts (TFCs) of the chin-chin samples were observed to increase during storage. TBCs and TFCs of chin-chin samples after 3 weeks of storage ranged from 6.00×103-8.50×103cfu/g and 6.80×103-8.00×103cfu/g, respectively. The samples presented adequate microbiological conditions and were within recommended safe limit of microbial guidelines.

Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that chin-chin of acceptable sensory attributes and improved nutritional content could be produced with up to 10% African walnut flour (AWF) level. In effect, chin-chin substituted with African walnut flour can be consumed by households thereby improving their nutritional status and eradicating food insecurity and malnutrition which is common among households.