NUTRITIONAL QUALITY, HAEMATOLOGICAL AND SENSORY PROPERTIES OF NOODLES DEVELOPED FROM BLENDS OF WHEAT, ORARUDI AND MORINGA OLEIFERA SEED FLOURS

Abstract

The present study was designed to evaluate the nutrient quality, haematological, and sensory properties of noodles developed from blends of wheat, Orarudi, and Moringa oleifera seed flours. The wheat, Orarudi, and Moringa oleifera seed flour samples were mixed in the ratio of 100% Wheat (A), Wheat 80% + Orarudi 10% + M. oleifera 10% (B), Wheat 70% + Orarudi 15% + M. oleifera 15% (C), Wheat 50% + Orarudi 25% + M. oleifera 25% (D), respectively, and used for the preparation of noodle samples. The noodle samples produced were subjected to protein quality, haematological indices, and sensory evaluation. The result of the protein quality of the rats maintained on a casein-based diet used as control was significantly (p<0.05) higher than those fed on diets formulated from noodle samples and a nitrogen-free diet, although the diet formulated from 50% wheat, 25% Orarudi, and 25% Moringa oleifera compared favourably with the casein-based diet. The results of the in vivo study showed that there was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in WBC, RBC, Hb, PCV, and platelets. There was no death recorded during the treatment period. No change in locomotor activity was observed; rather, there was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in body weights of the treated groups when compared to the control group. The result of sensory evaluation showed that the products had appearance (6.00-8.10), aroma/flavour (6.20-8.00), taste (6.10-8.35), texture (6.25-7.85), and overall acceptability (6.10-8.00). The results have shown that formulated noodle samples from the blends of wheat, Orarudi, and Moringa oleifera seed flours up to 70:15:15 produced good results and had acceptable quality relative to those made from 100% wheat flour, and thus could help to alleviate the problem of malnutrition prevalent in developing countries.