Production of noodles using cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta)

The potential of making noodles using cocoyam flour was investigated. Cocoyam (Taro) and wheat flour were prepared. The proximate compositions of 100% cocoyam (C) flour, 100% wheat (W) flour, 50:50, and 70:30 blends of cocoyam-wheat (CW) flour were determined. Noodles were produced from cocoyam and wheat flour and their blends. The mean proximate composition of 100% cocoyam flour was found to be 11.19% amylose content, 8.70% crude protein, 4.86% ash, 0.60% fat content, 5.06% moisture content (wb), 6.38% crude fiber, and 72.22% carbohydrates with a swelling volume of 17.45 mL/g. The mean textural quality characteristics of the 100% cocoyam flour noodles were 5.88% cooking loss, 9.18 N/m2 tensile strength, 39.75 Pa elasticity, and 74.06 mm firmness with a cooking time of 4.31 mins. The 100% cocoyam noodles were rated 5.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 4.0 for appearance, flavor, hardness, texture, and overall acceptability, respectively on a 9- point hedonic scale. In comparison with 100% wheat flour noodles with an acceptability of 7.0, the 100% cocoyam noodles had a lower score. The 50:50 cocoyam-wheat flour blend noodles, however, scored 6.0 on acceptability which was very close to that of 100% wheat noodles. This study showed that though noodles could be made from 100% cocoyam flour, a 50:50 cocoyam-wheat flour blend would make better quality noodles in terms of nutrition and overall acceptability.