Mozambican diets
are often lacking in vitamin A. Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) are rich
in beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, but are not easily introduced into
the diet as the consistency of the porridge made from OFSP is unappetising.
Flour made from roasted cassava (garri) produces a palatable porridge with a
high energy density. We propose a simple procedure for producing an instant
porridge by roasting grated OFSP with flour from shredded sun-dried cassava
(G-OFSP). This is an easily adopted variant of the traditional garri-making
process. The consistency of this porridge made from milled G-OFSP (G-OFSPf) was
compared to the consistency of porridges made from maize flour (Mf), cassava
flour (Cf), OFSP flour (OFSPf) and garri flour (Gf) at 43°C, and then
correlated to the perceived characteristics assessed by a sensory panel. The
dry matter concentration of the porridges was adjusted to give similar
consistency, measured by the maximum force of back extrusion, using traditional
maize porridge as a reference. The porridges were additionally characterized by back
extrusion force relaxation time. Short relaxation times were
obtained for G-OFSPf, Mf and Gf porridges and longer times for Cf and OFSPf
porridges, corresponding roughly to the sensory preference. In the sensory test
of consistency, G-OFSPf porridge was ranked first, followed by Mf, Gf, OFSPf
and Cf. In overall sensory tests comparing G-OFSPf porridge to Gf porridge,
G-OFSPf porridge was significantly preferred with regard to all sensory attributes
evaluated (p < 0.01). The energy density of the G-OFSPf porridge was 5.6
kJ/ml; the highest of the three most preferred porridges with regard to
texture. The preparation of flour from a mixture of grated OFSP and shredded sun-dried
cassava improved the perceived porridge consistency, increased its energy
density, and its high acceptability would increase the intake of betacarotene.