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Abstract
The quality attributes of dry pap powder produced from maize and pigeon pea blends was investigated. Whole maize and pigeon pea grains were sorted, washed and blended in the following proportions to 100:0, 60:40 and 50:50 to obtain samples MAZ, PEG and MAP respectively. These blends were fermented together for 72hrs. The proximate composition and sensory properties of the pap were determined. The moisture, ash, fibre, protein, fat and carbohydrate content of the pap samples ranged from 6.59% in MAZ to 7.50% in MAP, 2.96% in MAZ to 3.77% in PEG, 3.16% in MAZ to 4.00% in MAP, 8.62% in MAZ to 16.89% in MAP, 1.94% in MAZ to 2.41% in MAP and 63.87% in MAP to 71.96% in MAZ. The results revealed that inclusion of pigeon pea significantly improved the ash, protein, fibre, and fat content of the pap. The mean sensory scores of the pap showed that the inclusion of pigeon pea in the pap did not adversely affect the sensory attributes as they competed favourably with the control sample. Their overall acceptability scores were 8.44 for sample MAZ, 7.29 for sample PEG and 7.40 for sample MAP. The study recommends inclusion of pigeon pea in pap production since it improved its proximate composition. Keywords: Proximate, MAP, Composition, MAZ, Pap, Pigeon Pea, Maize.