Optimization of proximate composition and functional properties of composite flours consisting wheat, cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) and bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea)

Optimization of the production of composite flour from wheat, cocoyam and bambara groundnut flours using optimal mixture design of response surface methodology was carried out. The responses were the proximate and functional properties. From the result, the optimized composite flour defined as the blend with overall best proximate composition and functional properties consisted 60% wheat flour, 30% cocoyam flour and 10% bambara groundnut flour. This optimized blend had 387.91Kcal/100g energy value, 0.759 g/ml bulk density, 2.4 g/g water absorption capacity, 01.842 g/g oil absorption capacity, 1.26 swelling index, 10% least gelation and 40% emulsion capacity. Statistical analysis showed that the models as well as the linear, quadratic and cubic model terms were significant (P? 0.05) for bulk density, water absorption, oil absorption capacity, crude fibre, moisture content, carbohydrate and fat content while only linear and cubic model terms were significant (P? 0.05) for protein and ash contents respectively. In conclusion, composite flour from bambara groundnut, cocoyam and wheat flour have acceptable proximate and functional properties which suggests the suitability of the composite flour in terms of nutritional and functional qualities necessary for the production of enriched gluten-free food products