2015, Uchechukwu-Agua, Amarachi D., Caleb, Oluwafemi J., Manley, Marena, Opara, Umezuruike Linus

This study investigated the effects of storage conditions: cool (15 ± 1°C, 90% relative humidity (RH)), ambient (23 ± 2°C, 60% RH) and higher (38 ± 2°C, 60% RH) on changes in physicochemical quality attributes of two cassava flour cultivars (TME 419 and UMUCASS 36) packaged in paper bags and stored for 12 weeks. Physicochemical and microbial qualities were studied at weeks 0, 4, 8 and 12. Moisture content decreased from 12.0% to 7.1% and 9.8% to 6.8% in cultivars ‘TME 419’ and ‘UMUCASS 36’, respectively. Carotenoid content was higher in cultivar (cv.) ‘UMUCASS 36’ (2.5 ± 0.10 mg/g) compare to cv. ‘TME 419’ (1.8 ± 0.11 mg/g). Colour indices of the cassava flour were significantly influenced by storage duration. A slight decrease in microbial load from 5.4 to 4.8 log CFU/g was observed, with increase in temperature from 15°C to 38°C at the end of storage. The ambient storage condition best maintained nutritional and physicochemical quality.