Nutritional, antinutritional, and sensorial properties of Manihot esculenta cassava sticks from five varieties as affected by Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in field conditions

Abstract

Cassava is a mycotrophic and staple crop implicated in the diet of tropical environment populations.This work evaluates the influence of cassava varieties and Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi inoculation on the nutritional, antinutritional, and sensorial properties of cassava sticks.Cassava root varieties were peeled, cleaned, and cut into pieces before being soaked for 72 hours.The resulting paste was grounded and molded to form sticks 40 cm long, and then boiled at 100℃ for 25 minutes.Cooked, sticks were subjected to sensory analysis using color, texture, aroma, taste, and general acceptability as attributes.Nutritional and antinutritional properties were analyzed using standard methodology.Results indicate a large variation in the sensorial quality of cassava sticks, with respect to varieties and the AM fungi status of cassava plants.Sticks from mycorrhized AE, I090590, and TME/693 varieties showed the best score for all attributes, indicating their best appreciation.None AM fungi 01/1797, I090590 cassava sticks showed fewer scores indicating their less appreciation.Sticks from AM fungi cassava plants showed better sugars, proteins, lipids, ash, fibre, Fe, P, Ca, Mg, K, and energy values compare to those from none AM fungi cassava varieties.Significant reduction of all the antinutrients tested was recorded for sticks from AM fungi cassava varieties, with the best 62.7% attributed to cyanide content for TME/693 variety.TME/693 is the best cassava variety for the production of sticks.Production of cassava must be done with AM fungi to ensure the best yield and quality of the derived products.