Nutritional Composition of Wheat, Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) and Unripe Plantain (Musa paradisiaca) Flour Blends

Aims: This research aimed at determining the chemical and nutritional properties of composite flour produced from wheat, mushroom and unripe plantain composite flour in order to explore its potentials in food formulation.

Study Design: The experiment followed a completely randomized design.

Methodology: Different formulations (86.67:6.67:6.67, 80:0:20 83.33:13.33:3.33, 90:10:0, 90:0:10, 93.33:3.33:3.33, 83.33:3.33:13.33, 80:10:10, 80:20:0 and 100:0:0) were obtained using optimal mixture design of response surface methodology from the blends of wheat, mushroom and unripe plantain. The proximate, mineral and vitamin contents were determined for the formulated samples. The results were further optimized using optimal design of response surface methodology.

Results: The values for moisture, ash, protein, fat, fibre, carbohydrate and energy for the flour blends ranged 8.46-11.82%, 0.80-1.87%, 8.65-14.01%, 0.95-4.98%, 0.35-0.59%, 70.04-78.64% and 354.04-381.02 kcal/100 g, respectively. The values obtained for calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium and iron of the flour blends ranged 26.60-29.95, 0.91-4.05, 1.62-2.01, 80.50-108.14 and 0.88-1.16 mg/100 g, respectively. The values obtained for vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and C of the flour blends ranged 150.36-160.60, 7.10-20.25, 6.04-23.92, 7.12-7.23, and 2.02-3.05 mg/100 g, respectively. The two optimum blends that gave overall best results using nutritional compositions as dependent variables were 80:12.68:7.32 and 80:13.21:6.79 (wheat, mushroom and unripe plantain).

Conclusion: The result of the proximate and nutritional content showed that the composite flour of wheat, mushroom and unripe plantain flour is a good source of ash, protein, fat, dietary fibre and carbohydrate and relevant in food application especially in the production of baked food products especially in developing countries.