Nutritional and antinutritional evaluation of gluten free pasta from cocoyam starch and lima bean flour

Pasta is a wheat-based food product which has gained universal popularity in recent years due to its versatility, low cost and convenience;however, it has low nutritional quality. It is traditionally produced from wheat that is largely imported in Nigeria, placing a heavy demand on the dwindling financial resources of the nation. Wheat also contains gluten, which triggers a multi-system autoimmune disorder called celiac disease in genetically predisposed individuals. Treatment for celiac disease is complete exclusion of dietary gluten. Efforts are currently being made to develop gluten-free pasta from indigenous crops in order to reduce heavy dependence on imported wheat and provide alternatives to consumers affected by celiac disease. Cocoyam and lima beanare gluten-free, underutilized, indigenous tropical crops with a high nutritional profile that can be used to replace wheat flour in pasta production. This study, therefore, aimed at developing a high-nutritional gluten-free pasta from lima bean flour andcocoyam starch. Composite blends of pregelatinized cocoyam starch (PCS) and germinated lima bean flour GLBF) were formulated in the following ratios: 100:0, 87.5:12.5, 75:25, 62.5:37.5 and 50:50. Xanthan gum was added to the composite flour at 2.5% while 100% wheat flour was used as the control and these were used to produce pasta. The protein, moisture and carbohydrate contents of the gluten-free pasta ranged from 6.54 -18.82%, 9.06-10.56% and 59.29-74.30% respectively. Mineral content of gluten-free pasta ranged from 61.54-108.20 mg/100 g for calcium and 0.94-6.09 mg/100 g for iron. Lysine values increased from 2.63 (100% Wheat Flour Pasta) to 3.85 g/100 g protein (50% PCS, 50% GLBF) while total amino acids ranged from 53.66-83.11 g/100 g protein. The antinutritional factors cyanide, oxalate and phytic acid ranged from 0.191-1.199 mg/100 g, 10.251-85.064 mg/100 g and 0.01-1.66%, respectively. This study has shown the potential of developing a high-nutritional gluten-free pasta from the blends of pregelatinized cocoyam starch and germinated lima bean flour using xanthan gum as a binder.