Consumer acceptability of stiff porridge based on various composite flour proportions of sorghum, maize and cassava.

A study was conducted to determine consumer acceptable proportions of flours in sorghum (var. serena) and maize or sorghum, maize and cassava composite flours. Breeder's serena flour extracted at 75 percent was mixed at various proportions with maize or with maize and cassava to constitute composite flours. The various composite flours were made into stiff porridge and presented to a group of panellists for sensory evaluation. The evaluation was conducted by scoring on a hedonic scale of 0-5 for poor to excellent, respectively, for the parameters colour, texture, flavour, taste and overall acceptability. The responses were analysed statistically. Alternatively the panellists were allowed to eat ad-lib any of the presented samples which appealed to them. The results demonstrated that slight incorporation (< 10%) of sorghum (var. serena) to maize flour leads to reduction in consumer acceptability. However, increased incorporation of sorghum in excess of 10 percent leads to no significant decrease in consumer acceptability until a level of 30 percent incorporation is exceeded. In sorghum, maize, cassava composite flours the formulation of 30:40:30, respectively, was found to be most acceptable. It is suggested that at this combination of flours desirable textural characteristics of the porridge overrides other factors in contributing to its acceptability.