Effect of different drying modes and cassava varieties on the quality of its chips

Abstract

The effect of drying height and cassava variety on the quality and drying characteristics of cassava chips were investigated. The varieties used were TMS 30572, NR 8083 and local best. The samples were sun-dried at the loading rate of 7kg/m², at 0, 0.5m, 1.0m and 1.5m heights on a flat palm frond basket. The microbial load of the chips dried on the above heights was investigated. The hydrogen cyanide (HCN) content of the dried samples from the varieties was analyzed while the particle size distribution of the milled samples was evaluated. The chips were also assessed for colour. Data obtained from the analysis showed that chips from different cassava varieties contain non- lethal level of HCN that range from 5.35 to 7.6 mg HCN /100g. However statistical differences in the HCN values (p < 0.05) were observed. The mould count of the samples ranged 1x 10¹ 'cfu/g-1x10² cfu/g which is below the innocuous value of 1x10⁵ cfu/g. The fineness moduli of flours from different cassava varieties which ranged 4.52-4.87 were significantly different (p<0.05). The result also shows that as the drying height increased, the drying time of the chips decreased, however the colour of the dried chips from different varieties were significantly different (p<0.05) after drying. The particle size distribution of the milled samples uniformity index measurement shows that the varieties used in this work produced more coarse (9) than mediums (1-2) sized particles after milling twice.