Evaluation of wheat-pigeon pea flour blends for noodle production in Nigeria

Inclusion of legume flours/starches in food formulations such as pastas, noodles, among others, assists in enhancing structure, texture and nutritional quality of the final products. Pigeon pea as a legume is still underutilized in Nigeria and most places in Africa. In this study, the effect of addition of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) flour (PPF) in various proportions into wheat flour (WF) for noodle production was evaluated with respect to selected chemical, cooking and sensory properties of the formulated products. Pigeon pea grains (1 kg) were cleaned and boiled in 3 L of tap water for 15 min. Boiled seeds were de-hulled and sun-dried for 3 days (average ambient temperature of 33.0 ± 2oC), milled and sieved (mesh size: 300 µm). Flour blends (WF: PPF) for noodle production were 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50; and 100% WF was used as control. Selected functional properties (Water absorption, swelling, oil absorption capacities and bulk density) of the flours were determined, while the noodles were subjected to chemical, cooking and sensory analyses using standard laboratory methods. Results indicated that more inclusion of the pigeon pea flour (PPF) gave rise to increasing water and oil absorption capacities. The 50:50 noodle had significantly (p<0.05) higher crude protein (15.68%); Magnesium (109.23 mg/100g) and iron (6.88 mg/100g) than the other noodle samples, while all the noodles had low fat contents. This could be an advantage to prevention of rancidity in the food products during storage and availability of noodles suitable for obese and diabetes Miletus Type 2 individuals. The 90:10 noodles had lower values of cooking time and yield but its cooking loss was higher than others. This underscores the benefit of PPF on improvement of texture of the noodles as the amount increased in the mixture. The 90:10 noodle blend was also more acceptable in all the sensory attributes than others. Therefore, utilization of PPF in composite noodle production in Nigeria and other developing countries can be recommended as this could support the effort towards food and nutrition security of households and communities.