Effect of Root Ages on the Quality of Low Cyanide Cassava Flour from Kasetsart 50

Abstract

Cassava flour is a food product used in many diets, that is derived from fresh edible roots of cassava, preferentially from low-cyanide sweet cassava. Despite the high cyanogenic content in fresh roots, the bitter cassava can be also used to produce flour if the fresh roots are of good quality and are processed properly. In this study, the quality of cassava flour produced by a simple process from variety Kasetsart 50 (KU50), the bitter cassava which was extensively grown in Thailand for industrial use was investigated. Flour qualities obtained were dependent on the root quality. Roots with different ages (6, 8, 10 and 12 months old) exhibited different chemical compositions and cyanide contents, which consequently produced flour containing different levels of cyanide content. Fresh roots with high cyanide content produced flour with high cyanide content. Moreover, flour prepared from fresh roots at various ages exhibited significant differences in paste viscosity. These differences were greater than that seen for extracted starches from fresh roots alone, implying the role of other non-starch components in fresh roots on determining the paste viscosity of flour. Furthermore, composite blending of flour with various paste properties was proposed to minimize the paste viscosity variation, and remedy inconsistent quality of cassava flour-based products.