Development and Quality Evaluation of Extruded Breakfast Cereal from Blends of Ofada Rice and Cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata ) with Date Palm Fruit

Development of food product is a global initiative focused on crops utilization for economic empowerment and service provider. Extruded breakfast cereal developed from unconventional grain, ofada rice blended with cowpea and date palm fruit as natural sweetener was designed and evaluated. Composite flour formulation was in ratio 55:45, 60:40, 65:35, 70:30 while date palm fruit was kept constant. Proximate, functional, pasting, shelf-life and sensory analyses were carried out. Protein and ash content in experimented samples, B1KK, B2KL, B3KM and B4KN increased significantly with increased proportion of cowpea. At 5% level of significance, there was significant difference in water absorption index in all experimented sample while bulk density and swelling power showed no significant difference in most samples. Final viscosity of the samples increased as the proportion of ofada rice decreased while setback viscosity increased as the proportion of cowpea increased. Moisture content, free fatty acid and peroxide value of the samples increased slightly as approaches six weeks storage, however, the result was within internationally acceptable quality limits. Sensory attributes of the designed products are significantly related to the control sample, apparently, consumer perception of the breakfast cereal based products indicated that B2KL was most preferred and thus recommended for commercialization.How to Cite: Musa Omotayo Jimoh, Taiwo Olufemi Olurin, Oyesiku Seun Odunayo, 2023. "Development and Quality Evaluation of Extruded Breakfast Cereal from Blends of Ofada Rice and Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) with Date Palm Fruit." Journal of Agriculture and Crops, vol. 9, pp. 293-301.