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Effect of Volume and Temperature of Added Water on the Occurrence of Phase Separation in <i>Moin-Moin</i> from Wet Milled Cowpea (<i>Vigna unguiculata</i>) and Cowpea Flour from Three Cowpea Varieties


CM Osuji
BA Njoku
CP Nwugo
G Okoro
JC Ekeke

Abstract

Three cowpea varieties (Isiocha, IT89KD and IT90K-76) were used for production of moin-moin by wet milling of the dehulled cowpea and by reconstitution of dry milled cowpea flour. The moin-moin was made by separately adding different levels of mix water and water at different temperatures (50 – 80oC). The cowpea varieties were evaluated for
water absorption. All moin-moin samples were evaluated for phase separation and the percentage height of the upper phase was measured. The proximate composition of the different phases (upper and lower) was also determined. The Isiocha variety absorbed the most water (1.14ml/g) compared to IT89KD (0.91ml/g) and IT90K-76 (0.95ml/g). The IT90K-76 variety had the highest mean % height of upper phase (9.1%) which was significantly (p<0.05) higher than those for Isiocha (7.2%) and 1T89KD (7.1%). The temperature of the mix water did not significantly alter the
mean % height of upper phase. The increase in mean mix water (49.5 – 79.5ml) caused an increase in mean % upper phase (5.4 – 10.5%). Cowpea flours produced higher upper phase when mixed with water at room temperature but cowpea flours produced higher upper layers when mixed with water at 50oC and above. The occurrence of phase separation in moin-moin from wet milled cowpea and cowpea flours can be controlled by use of appropriate quantity and temperature of water for milling and flour reconstitution.

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eISSN: 0189-7241