CASSAVA PRODUCTION PRACTICES, UTILIZATION AND EVALUATION AS INGREDIENT FOR INJERA MAKING AT AMARO AND OFFA DISTRICTS, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Cassava is commonly known as the poor man’s crop and emerging as dominant staple and alternative food security crop in southern Ethiopia. However, limited research has been done so far for identifying suitability variety as ingredient for injera making. Therefore, household survey and laboratory analysis experiment were conducted to determine farmer’s practices in selecting suitable cassava variety with its ratio as ingredient of injera making. Based on the survey result laboratory analysis was conducted with different ratio of cassava blended with teff to verify the farmer’s practice. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the respondent households. The survey result revealed that Qulle (20.8%), Kello (12.5%) and both Qulle and Kello (70%) were identified as the common cassava varieties in the study area. The household reported that, yield, maturity earliness, resistance to disease and pest (53.3%) are the major criteria for selecting the variety. About 45% of the respondent were used 40 to 60 ratio of cassava with teff followed (38.3%) by 50 to 50 as ingredient of injera. During the laboratory analysis, two cassava varieties (Qulle and Kello) and five blending ratios (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50%) of cassva with teff were tested in Randomized Completed Design with three replications. Teff with 100% was used as a control. The result revealed that, cassava varieties and blending ratio had significant effect on protein, fiber, fat, ash and cyanide content while non-significant effect on moisture and carbohydrate, respectively. Higher protein, fiber and fat, ash content was recorded from 90% teff with 10% Qulle and Kello variety. The result further explained that, as cassava proportion were increased; protein, fat, ash and fiber content decreased but moisture and carbohydrate content were increase. Composite injera with 50% of Kello variety has highest cyanide content (0.48mg/100g) than that of Qulle. Higher score of acceptability for texture (7.23%), sourness (7.56%), aroma (7.58%) and taste (7.33%) were recorded from 10% of Kello variety than Qulle. Therefore, it can be concluded that, for cassava-teff injera preparation mixing the cassava up to 30% is found to be acceptable. Further research should be done in cassava starch characterization as the staling and less eye formation are the major traits to be improved for increasing the quality of injera prepared from teff mixed with cassava.