Effect of Blanching, Varietal Difference of Irish Potato Flour and Sprouted Maize Flour on Energy Density of Gruels of Three Irish Potatoes Varieties (Cipira, Pamela and Dosa) in Dschang, West-Cameroon: Optimization Using Response Surface Methodology (RSM)

Child malnutrition is a problem that usually occurs from the age of weaning. It is mostly manifested in the form of protein-energy malnutrition and mainly affects many infants in developing countries. This study is aimed at improved the energy density of gruels made from Irish potato flours by using the response surface methodology. To achieve this, blanched and unblanched Irish potato flours of three varieties (Cipira, Dosa and Pamela) were produced. The flours were then chemically and physically characterized. The response surface methodology using the Doelhert plan was carried out to study the effect of blanching on the energy density of gruels of the three Irish potato varieties with dry matter and optimized germinated corn flour concentration (Kassaï variety) as factors. As such that the blanching, variety and interactive effect of the blanching and variety significantly influence (p<0.05; 0.01; 0.001) the proximate chemical composition of all flours. The combination of optimized germinated corn flour at concentrations ranging from 3.10 to 5.76 g with Irish potato flour at concentrations between 14.50-25.45 g of dry matter has resulted in gruels with flow velocities between 100 and 160 mm/30s. The activity of germinated flour was influenced by blanching, which reduced its activity in the Dosa and Pamela varieties but increased in the case of Cipira. The use of optimized germinated corn flour during the preparation of the Irish potato gruels resulted in an increase of the energy density between 3.4 and 6.02. The correlation matrix shows that the fluidizing capacity of optimized germinated corn flour is significantly (p<0.05; 0.01) influenced by carbohydrates, ash and fibers. In view of all the above, the appropriate combination of optimized germinated corn flour and the various Irish potato flours would alleviate the problem of protein energy malnutrition.