Health and aesthetic benefits of alchornea cordifolia in cassava fufu

Abstract

The existence of bioactive chemicals in plants is essential for the development of their therapeutic qualities. In order to establish the scientific foundation for their use, it is necessary to test medicinal plants on a regular basis going forward. The study was experimental research that explored the health and aesthetic benefits of Alchornea cordifolia (ogyama) in preparing cassava fufu. Specifically, the study proximately analyzed the cassava plantain fufu, cassava fufu, and cassava ogyama fufu determined the glycaemic index and glycaemic load of the three fufu varieties and conducted a sensory evaluation of the acceptance of the foods. Questionnaires were used to gather data for the sensory evaluation. One-way analysis of variance and independent-sample ttest were employed in the analysis of the data with a statistical significance set at 95%. The study showed that all three varieties of fufu have high glycaemic indices and are high glycaemic load foods. Cassava fufu has the highest glycaemic index of 78.3, cassava plantain fufu also has a glycaemic index of 73.9, while cassava ogyama fufu has the least glycaemic index of 54.3. Cassava plantain fufu was the most preferred in terms of colour, taste, aroma, mouth feel, after taste, and overall acceptability whereas cassava fufu was the least acceptable. The study recommends that the consumption of cassava ogyama fufu can be recommended more often to diabetics who wish to continue enjoying fufu while they manage their health.