Improving the Quality of Injera by Optimizing the Mixing Proportion of Fenugreek, Sorghum and Teff Flour

Background and Objective: Protein energy and micro-macronutrient malnutrition is a main global public health concern affecting humans worldwide, especially in Africa. To overcome this problem food products made from composite flours are required. Therefore, this study was conducted to find out the regression model and maximum mixing proportions of fenugreek, sorghum and teff flour that result in injera with higher quality attributes. Materials and Methods: A D-optimal mixture design with 3 factors and 2 levels was employed. A total of 14 baking trials were created using mixtures of fenugreek (0-5%), sorghum (0-50%) and teff (50-100%). The maximum and minimum values of independent variables were first evaluated by performing a preliminary study. Staling rate, mineral, protein, fiber, carbohydrate, antinutritional components and sensory qualities were all considered as response variables in this study. Results: That increasing the proportion of fenugreek flours in injera made from teff-sorghum-fenugreek mixing ratios improved nutritive values, improved sensory appeal, textural characteristics and reduced staling rate. Conclusion: The best injera blending ratio was found to be 64.1% teff, 32% sorghum and 3.80% fenugreek in terms of overall qualitative attributes. This could ultimately help to avail nutritionally improved, reduced staling rate and acceptable injera to the consumer.