Sensory evaluation of different preparations of cassava leaves from three species as a leafy vegetable

Cassava leaves are largely consumed in Africa and are among the top three African indigenous vegetables rich in nutrients. Leaves from bitter (Manihot utilissima), sweet (Manihot dulcis) and wild (Manihot glaziovii) species of cassava were cooked by boiling in salted (sodium bicarbonate and table salt) water with the addition of palm oil and ground-nut paste, following processing by “pounding”, “pounding and then drying” and, “drying and then pounding”. The drying was done in tunnel solar drier at temperature of 65°C on average. Nine samples (three species x three processing methods) were evaluated by 31 panelists, using a five point hedonic scale, where 5 = like very much and 1= dislike very much. Cassava species affected significantly (p = 0.0047; 0.0206) scoring for texture and overall acceptability, respectively, but not for colour, aroma and taste. Processing method highly significantly (p< 0.0001) affected all the sensory attributes scoring. Leaves from all three species were liked as leafy vegetable, except when pounded after drying.Key words: Cassava leaves, cassava species, sensory characteristics, tunnel solar drying, processing methods, Rwanda