Supplementation and Cooking of Pearl Millet: Changes in Protein Fractions and Sensory Quality

Pearl millet and soybean flour were used in this study. Investigation showed that the major fraction of pearl millet protein was the prolamin followed by globulin and glutelin, while that of soybean was the globulin followed by glutelin and lesser amounts of albumin and prolamin. Cooking of pearl millet or soybean was found to decrease the globulin and true-prolamin fractions, while the prolamin-like, true-glutelin and insoluble protein were increased. The albumin fraction of cooked pearl millet flour increased, while that of soybean flour decreased. The glutelin-like fraction of cooked pearl millet flour decreased, while that of soybean flour was increased. Supplementation of pearl millet flour with soybean protein was found to increase significantly the globulin fraction and decreased the true-prolamin and true-glutelin, while cooking of pearl millet flour supplemented with soybean protein was found to decrease the globulin and true-prolamin fractions, but increased the true-glutelin fraction and insoluble protein. The globulin fraction of cooked pearl millet flour supplemented with soybean protein was higher than that of cooked flour. Sensory evaluation of locally processed pearl millet supplemented with 5, 10 and 15% soybean protein showed high value for colour and low value for flavor compared to the unsupplemented pearl millet. The taste of the supplement processed with 5 and 10% soybean protein showed the same value as that of the control, while the texture showed high value. Based on the judgement of the panelists, the processed supplement (15% soybean) protein showed low taste value and the same value as that of the control for its texture.