Physiochemical Properties of Rice- Soybean Flour Blends and Sensory Evaluation of Their Cooked Products

Rice is a common cereal carbohydrate, while soya bean is a legume protein. World’s rice consumption estimates reflect unbalanced nutrition and health implications of nutrients deficiency. This study examines the nutritional impact of fortifying rice with soya beans. “Rice-soy flour blends”; a mixture of rice and soya beans flours was produced using the following ratios: 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, and 60:40. Results obtained showed that, fortification of rice flour with soya beans flour significantly (p≤0.05) affected the physico-chemical qualities and sensory properties of the end product. While proximate composition of rice flour increased, carbohydrate content decreased (87.37 to 57.80%). The rice functional properties were also altered. The water absorption capacity decreased (3.20 – 2.00 g/cm) initially, followed by an increase (2.00 – 3.85 g/cm) as substitution levels increased from 10 to 20% and decreased (1.75 – 1.50 g/cm) from 20 to 40%. The bulk density decreased from 0.97 to 0.70%, while values of swelling index remained almost constant (3.0cm3) throughout the substitution. Organolepticaly, rice-soy ratio 20:80 was the most acceptable, followed by 100:00, 70:30, while 60:40 was the least acceptable. This study showed that fortifying rice flour with soya beans flour is a significant way of improving nutritive quality, especially the protein.