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This study investigated the production of doughmeals from three different botanical
sources with the aim of evaluating their comparative quality characteristics and acceptability.
Flours were prepared individually from yam (Dioscorea rotundata), plantain (Musa aab) and whole
wheat (Triticum aestivum L.); and reconstituted to prepare doughmeal respectively. The resulting
doughmeals from the various flours were subjected to proximate analysis, physicochemical and
sensory evaluations. There were variations in the proximate composition (on dry basis) of the
material base (yam, plantain and whole wheat) used for doughmeal preparation. There were also
variations in some of the physicochemical properties of the flours such as amylose, swelling power,
solubility and mean particle size. The pasting properties of the flours used for doughmeal preparation
were also different. The brown index (colour descriptive factor) of doughmeal prepared from the
flours of yam, plantain and whole wheat were 45.8, 46.3 and 42.2 while the softness index were 21.8,
25.3 and 27 mm respectively. There were variations in the compression test characteristics of
doughmeal prepared from the different botanical sources. The sensory quality rating of doughmeal
from yam was rated the highest in virtually all the sensory factors including colour, taste, texture
(mouldability) and overall acceptability. The objective variables and sensory evaluation have therefore
shown that consumers still have cultural affinity and greater preference for the traditional food
product (yam doughmeal) than those from other sources.
Keywords: Doughmeal, amala, flour, yam, plantain, whole wheat, quality