CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND STORAGE PROPERTIES OF FURA FROM PEARL MILLET (PENNISETUM AMERICANUM)

Nutritional and antioxidant characteristics of millet have been highlighted in literature, however, changes in these attributes during its conversion to fura, a stiff dough prepared from millet, is yet to be investigated. The objective of this study was to determine the changes in the chemical (pH and 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) number, and proximate compositions, flavanols, vitamins A and B-2, and gross energy during the conversion of millet into fura. Moreover, sensory changes during storage were determined. Moisture (120-529 g/kg) and protein (123-131 g/kg) contents significantly (P < 0.05) increased, while fat (27-35 g/kg), ash (22-37 g/kg), crude fiber (5-28 g/kg), flavanol (0.752-1.401 g/kg), vitamins A (21-37 mu g/kg) and B-2 (190-350 mu g/kg) contents and gross energy (13.4-14.8 kJ/kg) significantly decreased during the conversion of millet grain into fura. However, carbohydrate contents of the millet grain (805 g/kg) and fura (820 g/kg) were not significantly different. Sensory attributes of fura received consistent poor scores after 2 days of storage except for color.