IMPROVING THE DIETRY FIBRE CONTENT OF TAPIOCA USING MILLET AS A FIBRE SUPPLEMENT

ABSTRACT

This study is designed for improving the dietary fibre content of local made cassava (manihot spp) food (tapioca) using millet ( pennisetum glaucum) as a FIBRE supplement. The tapioca was made by grating cassava in to coarse particle and wash with water to destarch. Starch analysis was carried out to determine the starch content before washing and after washing using spectrophometric method which gave 70.21% starch before washing and pressing and 64.95% after washing and pressing. The tapioca sample was mixed with millet (which was initially obtained from the dry milling of millet seed) in certain ratio blend; about six samples was made, sample A(pure 100% tapioca), sample B (90% tapioca, 10% millet), sample C ( 80% tapioca, 20% millet), sample D (70% tapioca, 30% millet), sample E (60% tapioca, 40% millet). Proximate analysis was carried out on the blend to ascertain the increase in fiber and other variation that the millet may have introduced. As well as paying attention to organoleptic properties like binding, crunchiness, colour etc. At the end of this analysis, it was found that the fiber content of tapioca increases from 2.7% to 3.45% and the blend with the maximum increase in fiber while showing binding property is the 50% tapioca, 50% millet.