Physicochemical, pasting and proximate properties of optimized, orange-fleshed sweet potato gluten-free flour supplemented with bambara groundnut flour

Yunus Temitayo Imam; Emmanuel Anyachukwu Irondi; Emmanuel Oladipo Ajani; Wasiu Awoyale

doi:10.14456/fast.2026.21

Authors

Yunus Temitayo Imam Department of Biochemistry, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria; Department of Biochemistry, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1780-5473
Emmanuel Anyachukwu Irondi Department of Biochemistry, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4649-9770
Emmanuel Oladipo Ajani Department of Biochemistry, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8440-187X
Wasiu Awoyale Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3635-1414

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14456/fast.2026.21

Keywords:

Underutilized crops, nutrient, legume, refined wheat flour, sweet potato

Abstract

Gluten-free (GF) food development is driven by rising celiac disease cases, healthy diet demand, and wheat costs. However, most GF flours are nutrient-poor, calorie-dense, and low in functional quality, making the production of high-quality GF food challenging. In this study, GF flour was formulated from optimized orange-fleshed sweet potato flour (OSPF) supplemented with bambara groundnut flour (BGF) at a proportion (30.31:19.50) obtained using the Design Expert software. Refined wheat flour was used as the reference flour. The physicochemical, pasting and proximate properties of the flours were then evaluated. The results revealed that the flours' physicochemical, pasting, proximate, and carbohydrate properties varied significantly (p<0.05). The swelling index, water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, starch, and sugar contents of the OSPF reduced (p<0.05) when supplemented with BGF (1.67±0.09 to 1.63±0.05, 249.48±1.52 to 201.55±1.77%, 132.34±0.04 to 119.90±0.52%, 63.05±0.37 to 56.48±0.49% and 7.32±0.07 to 6.78±0.12%, respectively). In contrast, its bulk density and ash, fiber, fat and protein contents increased significantly (p<0.05) from 0.63±0.01 to 0.69±0.01 g/mL, 2.32±0.11 to 2.61±0.07%, 0.51±0.01 to 1.80±0.02%, 0.66±0.02 to 3.03±0.01% and 1.09±0.01 to 11.71±0.02%, respectively. The amylose contents of 100%OSPF (18.75±0.42%) and OSPF-BGF (30.31:19.50) (17.80±0.35%), as well as their corresponding amylopectin contents (81.25±0.42% and 82.20±0.35%, respectively), were statistically comparable (p>0.05). Therefore, supplementation of OSPF with bambara groundnut improved the proximate quality of OSPF with a significant effect on its physicochemical and pasting properties. Consequently, BGF can be used as a suitable flour to improve the nutrient quality of orange-fleshed sweet potato gluten-free flour.

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