Nutritional quality and sensory profile of “oleleh” produced from cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and soybean (Glycine max) Composite

Abstract

“Oleleh” is a snack consumed in West Africa primarily made from cowpea steam beans paste. This study investigated utilizing soybean as a composite in producing “Oleleh”. The study investigates sensory profile and consumer acceptability of “Oleleh” produced from composite of different proportions of dry weight; 0:100, 100:0, 60:40, 40:60 & 50:50 of cowpea and soybean grains, as well as comparing two wrapping materials (banana leaf and aluminum foil) for steaming. The proximate composition revealed that the nutritional component of the composite increased with the increase in substitution of soybean, except for carbohydrate which 100% cowpea recorded the highest. The final analysis revealed that the moisture content ranges from 75.51 to 80.34, Ash 4.80 to 7.85, crude fat 9.42 to 22.05, crude fiber 2.8 to 6.45, crude protein 18.69 to 36.46, carbohydrate 9.68 to 40.63. The 60:40 & 40:60 composite of the cowpea and soybean presented higher nutritional content. Results for the sensory profile of “Oleleh” wrapped in both banana leaves and aluminum foil scored above 5 (scale: 1 to 9; 9 = extremely acceptable; 1 = extremely unacceptable). The highest overall consumer acceptability was 8.10 for cowpea wrapped in banana leaves and the lowest was for both soybeans only and 50:50. “Oleleh” wrapped with banana leaves showed a higher impact on acceptability than using aluminum foil. Overall, substituting cowpea by either 40% or 60% with Soybean is acceptable and yields high sensory quality and improved proximate composition for “Oleleh” production.