Authors : G.I. Onwuka and N.J. Ogbogu
Abstract: Matured tubers from two cassava varieties NR8212 and Nwangbisi were fermented for 0-7 days respectively before processing into fufu. Physco-chemical analyses of the products were carried out to determine the effect of fermentation on the quality of the processed products. Results showed that the Moisture content, pH, Titratable acidity and Cyanide values of the fufu samples ranged between 6.81-7.10; 4.03-6.37; 0.15-0.56% and 2.00-36.67 mg kg 1 HCN. It could be noted from this experiment that fermenting the cassava for 2 days optimally reduced the cyanide in fufu to 18.27 mg kg 1 HCN for Nwangbisi and 19.06 mg kg 1 HCN for NR8212. These values fall below the 20.00 mg kg 1 HCN recognized by standard organization of Nigeria as safe level. The kinetics of the degradation of the cassava cyanide also showed that the fermentation of the 2 varieties of cassava followed the first order Kinetic model. Thus a 1% increase in fermentation time (day) brings about 0.0696 decrease in HCN for the local variety (Nwangbisi) whereas a 1% increase in fermentation time (day) brings about 0.098 decrease in HCN for the improved variety (NR8212).
G.I. Onwuka and N.J. Ogbogu , 2007. Effect of Fermentation on the Quality and Physicochemical Properties of Cassava Based Fufu Products Made from Two Cassava Varieties NR8212 and Nwangbisi . Journal of Food Technology, 5: 261-264.