Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences: Research Areas

Abstract:
The effects of age at harvest, pre-treatment and varietal differences of three cassava varieties harvested at 10 months, 12 months and 14 months on the visco- elastic properties of three cassava varieties were investigated. It was observed from the result of the studies that the flour from the cassava samples harvested at 14 months of age exhibited lower values(p?0.05) of gelatinization temperature and peak time relative to the flour samples from those harvested at 10 and 12 months of age suggesting that derived products from this flour will cook faster than those from 10 and 12 months� harvest age andhence its preference for use in confectioneries by end users for economic reasons. The values of gelatinization temperature and peak time of products from Otuhia variety were lower than the values from other varieties.The peak viscosityof products from Otuhia was higher than values from Broni and Ampong. The combined visco-elastic properties of Otuhia variety make it more suitable for use in the baking and other confectionary industries. The low peak time and gelatinization temperature and high peak viscosity of flour samples from grating pre-treatment suggests its suitability for use in confectionery industries. It was generally observed that flour samples from Otuhia cassava variety harvested at 14 months with grating pre-treatment stands out as the sample with greater potential for use in confectionary and baking industries.

Keywords: Viscoelastic, Pre-Treatment, Harvest Age, Variety, Viscosity, Gelatinization

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