Abstract

Food nutrients are essential for the growth and development of human. In several parts of the world, Cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta), is a tropical root crop cultivated for food formulations and consumption by humans. This study was conducted to assess the nutritional evaluation (weight gain, protein efficiency ratio, net protein retention, and biological value) of the processed cocoyam, soya bean (Glycine max) flours and their blends by feeding trials using Albino rabbits. The sun-dried samples were milled to size (sieve with 25 µm aperture size) to obtain homogenous flours. Blends were obtained with various ratios according to the percentage of soya bean/cocoyam flours. The biological value, protein efficiency ratio, and net protein retention were analysed using standard methods for the calculations. Net protein retention of soya bean flour was higher than that for cocoyam flour. The highest biological value was given by the 50% blend, while the lowest was given by the control diet. The higher the protein efficiency ratio values, the higher the protein quality. The highest protein efficiency ratio value was given by soya bean flour, while the lowest value was from Cocoyam flour. The best blend of Cocoyam and soya bean flours obtained based on chemical and nutritional evaluations was the 50% blend of soya bean and Cocoyam flours.