Agriculture and Food Sciences Research

The present study was aimed at utilizing soursop flour for the production of chin-chin. Soursop (SS) was processed to flour. Chin-chin was prepared from blends of wheat and soursop flours using 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50 of wheat flour to soursop flour (SSF), and 100% wheat flour as control. Proximate and sensory analysis of the chin-chin was determined using standard methods. The samples were also stored for 3 weeks and evaluated at weekly intervals for total bacterial and fungal counts. Proximate composition of the chin-chin revealed a significant (p<0.05) increase in ash (0.42-0.96%), fat (33.31-39.29%), crude protein (5.32-7.94% protein), crude fibre (0.95-1.12%), and moisture content (4.85-7.65%) with a decrease in carbohydrate content (55.14-42.94%) as substitution of soursop flour increased. Energy content decreased as substitution of soursop flour increased, but beyond 30%, level, the energy content was observed to increase significantly. Substitution of soursop flour with wheat flour at the level of 10% compared favorably with the control sample suggesting that acceptable chin-chin could be produced at SSF substitution of up to 10%. The samples presented adequate microbiological conditions after storage of 3 weeks with counts ranging from 5.20×103-7.00×104cfu/g and 4.00×104-6.00×104cfu/g, for total bacterial and fungal counts, respectively. The study therefore showed that soursop can be utilized for the development of chin-chin with improved nutritional value over 100% wheat flour thereby serving as a nutritious household food which will help address the problem of protein-energy malnutrition.