EFFECT OF BLANCHING ON THE PHYSIO-CHEMICAL AND SENSORY PROPERTIES OF AMALA FLOUR FROM TWO SPECIES OF DIOSCOREA DUMETORUM -A COMPARATIVE STUDY

The yam (Dioscorea dumetorum) is a tuber crop plant that is high in carbohydrates, It is a species of flowering plant in the yam family, It is also known as bitter yam, cluster yam, triofoliate yam or 3- leaved yam. It comes in two colors, pale yellow or deep yellow and white, it has a fleshy potato-like root tuber. Yam (white and yellow Dioscorea dumetorum) were obtained at Arada market in ogbomosho, Oyo state, Nigeria. with other equipments like trays, slicer , bowls and cabinet dryer were obtained from processing lab of department of Food science, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso. It was named respectively A: white yam, B: yellow yam."Effect of Blanching on the physio-chemical and sensory properties of flour of amala from two species of Dioscorea dumetorum" Yam( white and yellow Dioscorea dumentorum) was washed, peeled and sliced into a thickness of 0.25mm, the yams were divided into 8 samples, white yam into 4 samples and yellow yam into 4 samples and was named A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, B2, B3, B4 respectively. Sample A1 and B1 were unblanched and dried at 60 °C for 24 hours, milled and package, sample A2, A3, A4, B2, B3, B4 were blanched at the temperature of 60 °C, 70 ° C, 80 °C respectively for both species of yam, and was soaked overnight, drain the following day and were dried at temperature 60 ° C for 24 hours, milled and were package respectively. The result; For yam (white Dioscorea dumetorum) the moisture contents ranged From 3.77 to 5.33% while 4.50 to 6.33% (yellow Dioscorea dumetorum) crude protein ranged from 9.85 to 12.96% for white yam and 9.02 to 15.06 for yellow yam, crude ash ranged from, 1.83 to 2.33% for White yam, while 1.83 to 3.17% for yellow yam, fat ranged from 0.15 to 0.19%, 0.13 to 0.22 for yellow yam. crude fibre ranged from 0.42 to 0.55% for white yam, while 0.38 to 0.64% for yellow yam and carbohydrate ranged from 78.63 to 83.41% for white yam, 74 58 to 84.13% for yellow yam respectively. The physio-chemical analysis prepared from two species are analyzed for ; water absorption capacity (WAC), oil absorption capacity (OAC), swelling capacity (SC), Bulk density, pH, total titrable values (TTA) and sensory evaluation; The WAO, OAC, and swelling index of the unblanched has lower values than the blanched Dioscorea dumetorum yam for both species of yam, the PH, TTA and bulk density of the unblanched Dioscorea dumetorum has higher values than the blanched Dioscorea dumetorum yam for both species of yam. The sensory evaluation conducted on the Amala revealed that; Amala made from blanched dioscorea dumentorum yam were more acceptable than the