Subjective and objective assessment of `agbelima' (cassava dough) quality

Abstract

Investigation into developing quality specifications for agbelima - a fermented cassava product -led to the identification of aroma, colour, smoothness, cohesiveness and sourness as five attributes consumers and producers associate with good quality agbelima. A study was conducted to identify objective indicators of human evaluation of each attribute. The results showed significant diff erences in total titratable acidity, pH, starch content, hot paste stability and colour attributes of the agbelima samples. It also showed more detectable di fferences between agbelima samples when uncooked than when cooked. Objective indicators were identified for three of the attributes ± namely colour, smoothness and sourness. The identified indicators were b and C for colour, average particle size for smoothness and pH and total titratable acidity for sourness. These results are expected to aid in evaluating cassava varieties for processing into agbelima, and enhancing routine quality control activities