Abstract

In tropical regions, coconut is a tree of great significance. It provides millions of people with food, employment and business opportunities. Coconut flour is a by-product of coconut milk and oil which is made from coconut meat leftover after processing.

Coconut flour can be incorporated into various foods products, such as bakery, snacks, and sweets. Coconut flour is also gluten-free and its nutritional composition is quite comparable to that of wheat flour. Previous research has shown that, coconut flour can serve as an alternative to wheat flour.

It is in this light that a study was carried out on the production of coconut flour and its use in baked products. Coconuts were bought from Kumba main market, in Cameroon. The coconuts were de-husk, de-shelled, sliced, washed, grated, oven dried, and milled into flour. Wheat flour was bought from the same market.

These flours were used to prepare samples (wheat flour made short bread and cake and coconut flour made short bread and cake). These samples where used as reference for sensory evaluation and 10 respondents were recruited for the sensory evaluation.

Result obtained from the sensory analysis (mean score) of prepared sample A (coconut flour made cake), sample B (coconut flour made shortbread), sample C (wheat flour made cake) and sample D (wheat flour made biscuit) were evaluated.

The respondent’s view on the issue of appearance, colour, aroma, taste and consistency of the overall acceptability revealed that, for sample A, 7.86; sample B, 8.34; sample C, 7.82; and sample D, 7.94. The study found that, majority of the respondent appreciated sample B (coconut made short bread) more than other samples.

Rationale of the Study

As the interest in gluten-free diets continue to rise, there is need to find a replacement for all-purpose flour in baking. This is because some persons are restricted from consuming gluten product due to their health issues such as, high sugar levels, digestion imbalance and heart disease.

This research focuses on the substitution rate of coconut flour to find the best proportions that benefit the nutritional needs and sensory properties of coconut cake and coconut shortbread biscuits.

Objectives of the Study

Main Objective

The main objective of this work was to use coconut flour as an alternative to wheat flour in the production of baked products.

Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of this project were to:

1. Produce flour from coconut using traditional processing techniques such as natural drying.
2. Produce plain cake and cookies using coconut flour.
3. Carry out the sensory evaluation on the baked product

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