JFS: Food Chemistry and Toxicology

Effect of Milling Method (Wet and Dry) on the

Functional Properties of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)
Pastes and End Product (Akara) Quality
P. KETHIREDDIPALLI, Y.-C. HUNG, K.H. MCWATTERS, AND R.D. PHILLIPS
Food Chemistry and Toxicology

ABSTRACT: Akara, deep-fat fried cowpea paste, is a very popular snack and breakfast food in Africa. Traditional
cowpea paste processed by wet-milling of soaked, decorticated seeds exhibited excellent foaming ability, high water-
holding capacities (WHC), and low hardness value for akara. Intense dry-milling that generated a fine flour ad-
versely affected its functionality and akara-making quality. Wet-milling of hydrated cowpea meal significantly
improved its foamability (as indicated by reduction in specific gravity) and WHC but showed only a marginal
improvement in akara texture.
Keywords: cowpea, cowpea meal, cowpea flour, Vigna unguiculata, wet-milling, dry-milling, functionality, akara
texture

Introduction for akara production was significantly lower than that of fresh

C OWPEA (V IGNA UNGUICULATA), POPULARLY KNOWN AS

black-eyed pea in the United States, is an important le-
gume crop in East and West Africa (Prinyawiwatkul and oth-
ers 1994; 1996). Paste prepared from cowpea forms the basic
ingredient in the preparation of many popular African dishes
(Dovlo and others 1976). Akara, deep-fat fried cowpea paste,
is regarded as the most common cowpea-based food product
in Africa (Reber and others 1983). The paste is whipped, sea-
soned with salt, chopped onions and either hot or bell pep-
pers and is then deep-fried in hot oil to produce spongy akara
balls (McWatters and others 1991; Misra and others 1996).
In Africa, the traditional method of paste preparation in-
volves a laborious and time- consuming process of soaking,
manual decortication and wet-milling (McWatters and others
1990; Henshaw and Lawal 1993). In Nigeria, Ghana, and other
parts of Africa, a ready-to-use flour was once commercially
produced which could be quickly hydrated into a paste (Dovlo
and others 1976). Although the flour greatly simplified the task
of paste preparation by eliminating the soaking, dehulling and
milling steps, it was not well received by consumers due to its
poor performance (McWatters 1983). The particle size distri-
bution of flour, decortication pretreatment, and cowpea vari-
ety were found to significantly affect the performance of flour
in making good-quality akara (McWatters and others 1990).
Based on these findings, research efforts have led to the grad-
ual development of a dry-milling technology for the produc-
tion of a ready-to-use cowpea meal. The meal has an interme-
diate particle size between fine flour and coarse grits (Williams
1980). The resulting meal has been shown to possess function-
ality essential for the production of good-quality akara (Mc-
Watters and others 1988; Phillips and others 1988).
In our preliminary studies, akara prepared from meal was
heavier and less spongy, formed a thicker crust, and lacked
the typical flavor associated with akara prepared from seeds
by the traditional soaking, decortication, and wet-milling
steps. Akara prepared directly from seeds is known to have a
soft, spongy, bread-like texture with a thin and crisp crust and
a much desired fresh cowpea flavor (Dovlo and others 1976,
McWatters and others 1992). Preliminary studies also showed
that the batter moisture content of hydrated meal appropriate
paste prepared from seeds. The method of milling appears to
affect the functionality of pastes used in akara production.
While the seeds are soaked for a prolonged duration during
processing of fresh paste, meal (and flour) is hydrated and im-
mediately whipped. Insufficient hydration time may also be
one of the factors contributing to poor meal functionality.
The process of whipping incorporates air into the paste
that gives a characteristic spongy and bread-like texture to
the fried product (McWatters and others 1990; 1992). The
foaming capacity of paste has been shown to be significant
in determining the textural quality of akara (McWatters and
others 1988). The poor water absorption capacity of a com-
mercial Nigerian cowpea flour was attributed to its small
particle size and produced paste that was too thin for prop-
er dispensing into akara balls (McWatters 1983). Reducing
the batter moisture content to achieve the desired consis-
tency produced balls that were perceived to have a tough
and dry texture. Cowpea meal was shown to absorb a sig-
nificantly higher amount of water than the flour and can be
used to make akara with desirable eating quality. Foaming
and hydration, therefore, appear to be important function-
al characteristics of cowpea pastes used in akara making.
Studies involving direct comparison of the functional prop-
erties of the traditionally processed fresh paste, the hydrated
meal, and the hydrated flour in akara production are lacking.
Such a comparison would provide a more comprehensive un-
derstanding of the performance of the different types of cow-
pea batters in akara preparation. The objective of this study
was to evaluate the foaming and water-holding capacities of
cowpea pastes prepared by wet- and dry- processing methods
and how this translates to the textural quality of akara.
Materials and Methods
Preparation of cowpea meal and fine flour
Cowpea seeds (California blackeye #5) were purchased
from a local seed supplier (Twelve Baskets Sales and Market-
ing Inc., Mableton, Ga., U.S.A.). Moisture content of seeds
(dried in a vacuum oven for 18 h at 70 8C and about 25 mm
Hg) was found to be 8.78%. Cowpea meal was prepared us-

48 JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE—Vol. 67, Nr. 1, 2002 © 2002 Institute of Food Technologists
Cowpea Functionality and Akara Quality . . .

ing the method described by Misra and others (1996), with
some modification of the decortication pretreatment pro-
cess (Phillips and Saalia, private communication). Before de-
hulling and milling, seeds were wetted by briefly dipping
them in tap water for about 3 min (room temperature) to
loosen the seed coats. The wetted seeds contained approxi-
mately 22 to 23% moisture. After draining the excess water,
the wetted seeds were spread in 2 to 3 layers on wire mesh
screens (43.2 3 53.3 cm) and dried in a forced-air oven
(model no. 8107; The Electric Hotpack Co., Inc., Philadelphia,
Pa., U.S.A.) operated at 60 8C for approximately 4.5 h. The fi-
nal moisture content of dried seeds was approximately 8.5%.
Pretreated seeds were passed through a plate mill (model 4E;
preparation from meal and flour, pastes of appropriate con-
sistency could be obtained by adjusting the moisture levels
to just 58% (McWatters and others 1990; 1991; 1992; Misra
and others 1996) and 52% (preliminary studies), respectively.
Paste prepared from cowpea meal with additional wet-
blending was produced by adding sufficient water to cowpea
meal to bring the moisture content to 65%. After hydrating
for 15 min, hydrated meal was further blended for 1.5 min in
the small 4-oz jar operated on a 12-speed Osterizer blender
following the same procedure as for the traditional paste.
This was designated as the hydrated cowpea meal with addi-
tional blending (blended) meal paste. The moisture content
of this paste was 65% for all functionality studies but adjust-

Food Chemistry and Toxicology

The Straub Co., Hatboro, Pa., U.S.A.) to detach the seed ed to 62% for making akara.
coats, and then directly through an Alamco Air Blast Seed
Cleaner (Allan Machine Co., Ames, Iowa, U.S.A.) to separate Preparation of akara
cotyledons from seed coats. The decorticated cotyledons The procedure described by McWatters and others (2001)
were ground using a model 6 3 14 Champion hammermill was adopted for making akara. Whipped paste was dispensed
(Eden Prairie, Minn., U.S.A.) equipped with a 1.6 mm screen. into hot (193 8C) oil (Duke’s peanut oil) in 1 tablespoon (15 mL)
The meal had a final moisture content of about 7.5%. portions and deep-fat fried until the balls turned golden brown
A portion of the decorticated cotyledons obtained after (3 to 4 min). The balls were occasionally turned during frying to
the pretreatment process was also ground into a fine flour in prevent uneven cooking. Unlike other treatments, the fine flour
a Retsch microjet ultracentrifugal mill (model ZMI; F. Kurt paste was scraped off the dispensing spoon using a stainless
Retsch GmbH & Co., Haan, Germany) equipped with a 0.08- steel spatula because it was too sticky to dispense.
mm screen and operated at 10,000 rpm. The fine flour had a
final moisture content of 6.77%. The seeds, meal and flour Specific gravity
were stored in sealed containers at 4 °C until used. Specific gravity of pastes before and after whipping was
determined in triplicate according to the method of Camp-
Preparation of cowpea pastes bell and others (1979). Two ¼th cup size (about 60 mL) U.S.
Following the traditional West African procedure, fresh standard dry measuring cups were used to make repeated
paste was prepared from soaked and decorticated seeds as measurements on the same replicate. The volume of the
described by McWatters and others (2001) with some modifi- cups was determined using room temperature (about 5 8C)
cations. Dry seeds (50g) were soaked in 24 oz. (about 700 boiled water. Paste, either unwhipped or whipped, was care-
mL) tap water for 3 h. Soak water was drained, seeds manu- fully filled into the cup up to the brim. The filled cup was
ally decorticated by rubbing between the palms, and the then gently tapped (10 times) against the smooth surface of
seed coats floated off under running tap water. The soaked the work bench. This ensured removal of any large air bub-
cotyledons (about 55%) were blotted dry between folds of bles that may have remained within the paste. Using a flat-
paper towels. The cotyledons were weighed and chopped in edged plastic knife, any excess paste was scraped off and the
a mini food chopper (model WCHO-100; White-Westing- rim of the cup wiped clean. The following formula was used
house, Mount Prospect, Ill., U.S.A.) for 1.5 min stopping at 30 to measure specific gravity:
sec intervals to stir the contents with a spatula. The finely
chopped material along with a calculated quantity of tap wa- wt. of paste-filled cup - wt. of empty cup
specific gravity =
ter was further blended in a small 4 oz blender jar to form a wt. of water-filled cup - wt. of empty cup
smooth paste with 65% moisture content. Preliminary stud-
ies showed that the paste attained the desired consistency at
Water-holding capacity (WHC) of paste solids
approximately 65% moisture content. Blending was done for
1.5 min (stopping at 30 sec intervals to mix the contents) with The filtration method described by Robertson and East-
a 12-speed Osterizer blender (model no. 6641; Sunbeam wood (1981) to measure the WHC of dietary fiber was chosen
Products, Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., U.S.A.) operated at the for this study with modifications. About 1.0 to 1.5 g of cowpea
“low” speed and “mix” combination. Paste was then whipped paste (65% moisture) containing about 0.3 to 0.5 g of the dry
for 1.5 min using a 6-speed hand mixer (model no. 2486; material was mixed with about 20 mL deionized water in a 20
Sunbeam Products, Inc., Hattiesburg, Miss., U.S.A.) equipped 3 125 mmTM screw-cap test tube. The slurry was vortexed (Vor-
with a small whisk attachment and operated at high speed. tex-Genie , Model K-550-G; Scientific Industries, Inc., Bohe-
Paste preparation from meal and flour was a much sim- mia, N.Y., U.S.A.) for 1 min at the maximum speed (no. 10)
plified procedure. Meal/flour (50g) was hydrated to the de- and the sample was allowed to hydrate for about 22 h at 2 8C.
sired moisture content by gradually adding the measured The low temperature of 2 8C prevented putrefaction of the
amount of water coupled with simultaneous gentle stirring sample. The soaked sample was then filtered through a pre-
(2.5 min). This ensured a thorough and uniform wetting of saturated Whatman no. 1 filter paper for 15 h at room tem-
the material. The material was allowed to hydrate for 15 to perature. During the prolonged filtration, moisture losses due
180 min to determine the effect of hydration time on paste to evaporation were prevented by covering the filtering sam-
functionality. At the end of the hydration time, the paste was ples with plastic wrap. The wet sample after filtration was
stirred gently for an additional 30 s before it was finally weighed, dried and reweighed. Drying was done for 18 h in a
whipped under conditions similar to that of the control vacuum oven operated at 70 8C and about 25 mm Hg vacu-
paste. Both the meal and flour pastes were hydrated to 65% um. WHC was expressed as grams of water held per gram of
moisture for all studies except for making akara. For akara the dry material. Each treatment was replicated 3 times.

Vol. 66, No. 6, 2001—JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE 49

 Cowpea Functionality and Akara Quality . . .

Measurement of akara texture Table 1—Effect of hydration time on the specific gravity of
The texture profile analysis (TPA) developed by Friedman cowpea meal paste before and after whipping
and others (1963) was used to evaluate the objective textural Hydration time Specific gravity
quality of akara. The procedure as outlined by Hung and
(min) 65% moisture 60% moisture
others (1988) was used with some modification. A cube of
approximately 1 cm was cut from the crumb portion of the Before After Before After
whipping whipping whipping whipping
akara ball. The cube was compressed twice in a reciprocating
motion, each time to 25% of its original height. Compression 0 1.104a 0.870a 1.003 a 0.768a
was done in an Instron universal testing machine (model 15 1.026b 0.808b 0.962 b 0.766a
30 1.025b 0.814b 0.940 b 0.766a
5544; Instron, Inc., Canton, Mass., U.S.A.) fitted with a 2000 N
60 1.046b 0.807b 0.951 b 0.761a
load cell. The cube was compressed to 2.5 mm at a cross- 120 1.048b 0.808b 0.960 b 0.756a
head speed of 50 mm/min; the crosshead returned at 1000 180 1.043b 0.795b 0.954 b 0.770a
mm/min and the cube was recompressed back to 2.5 mm a, bMean values in a column not followed by the same superscript letter are
Food Chemistry and Toxicology

under the same conditions. The TPA parameters, namely,
hardness, cohesiveness, elasticity and chewiness were de-
rived from the force-deformation curves (Hung and others
1988). Cubes from at least 2 akara balls were individually
tested for each treatment and replication combination.
significantly different (p # 0.05).
Table 2—Effect of paste preparation method on the spe-
cific gravity of cowpea pastes (65% moisture) and the water-
holding capacity of paste solids

Statistical analysis Specific gravity WHC of

paste
Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) Before After Percent solids
procedures (SAS Institute Inc. 1985). Mean separation tests Treatment whipping whipping reduction (g/g)
were performed using Duncan’s multiple range test. Control 1.011c 0.709d 29.9a 3.80a
Meal paste 1.042b 0.822b 21.1c 2.34c
Results and Discussion Blended meal paste 1.077 a 0.778c 27.7b 3.20b
Flour paste 1.063a 0.866a 18.5d 1.42d
Effect of hydration time a, b, c, d Mean values in a column not followed by the same superscript letter
are significantly different (p # 0.05).
Results from Table 1 show that a hydration time of cow-
pea meal beyond 15 min had no significant effect on the spe-
cific gravity of the paste either at the 65% or 60% moisture flour paste not only produced a smaller foam volume but
level. Similar results were reported by McWatters and Chhin- the foam was also characterized by the presence of large and
nan (1985) and Chhinnan and others (1985) who found that unstable air cells. Also, while the foam was homogeneously
water level had a significantly greater effect than hydration distributed throughout the paste matrix in the other treat-
time on the apparent viscosity of hydrated cowpea meal. A ments, a significant amount of foam (especially the big air
hydration time of 15 min should be sufficient for the flour cells) in the whipped flour paste rose to the surface. The ex-
which is considerably finer than the meal. For all future tremely thin consistency of the hydrated flour compared to
studies, meal and flour were, therefore, hydrated for 15 min other pastes probably produced a foam with these undesir-
before further processing. able characteristics.
Wet-milling of hydrated meal significantly improved its
Specific gravity of pastes foaming ability as indicated by the reduction in specific grav-
Specific gravity can be used as a convenient index of foam- ity (Table 2). The specific gravity value of the blended meal
ing capacity. The greater the amount of air incorporated into paste was only 2.2% less than the control. Although its foam-
the paste, the lower will be its specific gravity (Campbell and ability was nearly as good as the control (27.7% reduction
others 1979). The reduction in paste specific gravity after against 29.9%), the blended meal paste was still significantly
whipping is, therefore, a good measure of foaming capacity. heavier (specific gravity, 0.778 against 0.709) than the fresh
Table 2 shows the effect of paste preparation method on paste, even after whipping. This could be due to possible dif-
the specific gravity of cowpea pastes before and after whip- ferences in particle size distribution, with the control proba-
ping. The foamy consistency of the unwhipped control paste bly having coarser particles than the blended meal paste.
was reflected in its lower specific gravity value compared to
the meal paste (1.011 and 1.042, respectively). Additional Water-holding capacity of paste solids
wet-grinding increased the specific gravity of meal paste Significant differences in the WHC of cowpea paste solids
(1.042 to 1.077) probably due to particle size reduction and were observed among all the treatments (Table 2). The con-
compaction. The fine particle size of cowpea flour probably trol had the highest WHC (3.80 g/g) followed by the blended
also produced a denser paste (specific gravity of 1.063). meal paste (3.20 g/g), hydrated meal (2.34 g/g) and the fine
Whipping resulted in the greatest reduction in specific flour paste (1.42 g/g). Wet-milling significantly improved the
gravity for the control (29.9%) and the least for the fine flour WHC of meal paste (from 2.34 to 3.20 g/g). The poor water
paste (18.5%), indicating that flour paste had the least foam- absorption of a commercial Nigerian flour was attributed to
ing capacity. The reduction in specific gravity of meal paste its fine particle size (McWatters 1983). McWatters found that
after whipping was intermediate (21.1%). McWatters and with 47% of the particles riding a 400-mesh screen, the flour
Brantley (1982) reported a 77% volume increase for whipped was notably finer than traditional paste with only 16% re-
traditional paste and only a 31 to 56% increase for meal maining on the 400-mesh screen. The flour production and
paste. Ngoddy and others (1986) reported a reduction in the paste preparation conditions were, however, different from
foam volume of whipped flour paste, as the flour particle those used in the present study. Kerr and others (2000) have
size became finer. This could explain the difference in the reported a similar reduction in the water absorption capacity
foaming capacity between the meal and flour pastes. The of flour as the flour particle size decreased. These findings

50 JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE—Vol. 67, Nr. 1, 2002

Cowpea Functionality and Akara Quality . . .
are in agreement with the high WHC value of cowpea meal
compared to the flour reported in this study.
The appropriate batter moisture contents required to
produce pastes that could form the akara ball shape and re-
tain the shape during the frying operation were as follows:
control, 65%; meal, 58%; blended meal, 62%; flour, 52%. The
decreasing trend observed in the WHC of paste solids (3.80
to 1.42 g/g) from the control through flour agreed well with
the respective hydration levels (65% to 52%) required to pro-
duce pastes with appropriate consistency, dispensability, and
ball-forming properties. For example, the control paste sol-
ids with the highest WHC (3.80 g/g) can hold as much as 65%
moisture at the desired consistency whereas a mere 52%
moisture was sufficient to hydrate the flour solids (poor wa-
ter absorption of 1.42 g/g) to a similar consistency. In a study
involving a commercial Nigerian cowpea flour (McWatters
1983), 170 mL water was sufficient to hydrate 200 g of flour
(about 51% moisture) to make akara. Ngoddy and others
(1986) also reported a decrease in the paste hydration level re-
quired to make akara as the flour particle size became finer.
Interestingly, the wet-milled pastes possessed much supe-
rior hydration characteristics compared to the reconstituted
pastes from meal and flour. Unlike meal paste, all the other 3
pastes had a smooth consistency but still differed greatly in
their hydration properties. Wet-milling of fully hydrated cot-
yledons probably causes an easy rupture of a large propor-
tion of turgid cells releasing the cell contents into the exter-
nal solution. Wet-milling of hydrated cereal or legume seed
tissue or any hydrated plant material yields large amounts of
coarse fibrous material (cell wall residues) which can hold
many times its own weight in water. For instance, in a study
reported by Reichert (1981), the cell wall material isolated
from soaked pea cotyledons by a wet-milling process ab-
sorbed about 18 times its weight in water. Corn fiber is an
important by-product of industrial wet-milling of corn
which is combined with other materials to make corn gluten
feed (Hespell 1998). Wet-milling is 1 of the main steps in ob-
taining high dietary fiber powders from cereals and fruits
(Larrauri 1999). Plant fiber is well known for its high water-
holding properties. Sosulski and Sosulski (1986) reported that
field pea and faba bean fiber obtained during starch and pro-
tein extraction by wet-milling methods absorbed about 20
and 22 times, respectively, of their weight in water. Wet-
milled cowpea paste, unlike the hydrated meal and flour,
could contain large amounts of cell wall material (CWM) that
can greatly enhance its water-holding capacity. The presence
of CWM and its role in contributing to the high hydration ca-
pacities of wet-milled cowpea pastes remain to be examined.
Textural characteristics of akara
Results of TPA (Table 3) show significant differences
among the 4 treatments. Considerably greater force (41.5 N)
was required to compress the flour akara compared to tradi-
tional (15.9 N) or meal akara (26.9 N). Blending the meal after
hydration showed a trend towards decreased hardness; the
values were, however, not statistically different from those of
meal akara. Wet-milling significantly increased the cohesive-
ness, elasticity, and chewiness of the meal akara. Intense dry-
milling (for flour making), on the other hand, substantially
increased the values of all textural parameters in akara made
from flour. The texture of akara prepared from a commer-
cial Nigerian flour was described by panelists as “dry, dense,
and having a tough outer surface” (McWatters 1983). Fine
particle size of flour was considered as the major factor con-
tributing to its poor performance. Similar observations were
made on the flour akara in the present study. The high values
for hardness and chewiness of flour akara agree well with the
perceived dry and tough texture. The spongy and tender tex-
ture of traditional akara correlates well with its low objective
texture values, particularly hardness. Except for hardness
and chewiness, akara prepared from meal, in general, had
lower values compared to the control; differences were,
however, small. The large particle size of meal that makes a
gritty and coarse paste probably produces a less cohesive
akara with poor elasticity. Wet-grinding of meal into a
smooth paste causes particle size reduction; this could again
significantly increase the cohesiveness and elasticity of akara.
Szczesniak and others (1963) have reported a good correla-
Food Chemistry and Toxicology
tion between the sensory and objective measurements of
hardness and chewiness for a wide range of standard prod-
ucts. They also found that cohesiveness and elasticity were
difficult to perceive organoleptically. Previous studies on
akara conducted by McWatters and others (1988) showed a
good negative correlation between hardness and sensory
tenderness (r 5 20.85, p # 0.05) and a positive correlation
between cohesiveness and sensory sponginess (r 5 0.86, p #
0.05). However, the differences among their treatments were
narrow. When the differences are large, as in the present
study, the reported correlation between cohesiveness and
sponginess may not be as strong. The slightly higher values
of cohesiveness and elasticity coupled with a low hardness
value appear to give the much desired characteristic spongy
texture to the traditional akara. The varied paste moisture lev-
els may also contribute to texture differences, the control with
high moisture content producing a generally soft akara and
the poorly hydrated flour producing a very tough texture.
A cross-section of the control akara (Figure 1) shows a
uniform bread-like crumb structure. The crumb of flour
akara was interspersed with many large air pockets; the meal
akara showed a lower number of such air cells. Wet-milling
improved the crumb structure of blended meal akara, mak-
ing it more uniform and more like the control. The generally
high values of standard deviation for flour akara compared
to that of the control (hardness, 9.18 against 1.49; cohesive-
ness, 0.04 against 0.03; elasticity, 0.22 against 0.08; chewiness,
2.04 against 1.11) reflect its nonuniform crumb structure.
Traditional akara formed a thin, crisp crust with a uniform
and attractive golden brown color. The meal akara was slightly
darker and not as uniform and attractive as the control and
formed a thicker crust. The akara balls from fine flour were
rounder and smoother than the traditional or meal akara but
formed a dark and very tough crust. Similar observations
were made by McWatters (1983) on akara produced from a
commercial Nigerian flour. The rate of color development of
the crust during frying also appeared to be faster in the flour
than the control akara. Crust formation was probably due to
the fine particle size of flour (McWatters 1983). In addition,
many of the balls from fine flour either developed deep cracks
or burst open during frying causing the hot oil to splatter.
There were also some insufficiently cooked areas within the
crumb of flour akara. The formation of a tough crust (case
hardening effect) may have prevented the transfer of a suffi-
cient amount of heat to completely cook the interior (McWat-
ters 1983). Further, the hard crust appeared to act as a barrier
to the expanding crumb as it was being cooked, resulting in
the buildup of pressure within the crumb. This could have
caused the akara balls to crack and burst open.
The flour generally produced smaller and fewer akara balls
per batch (3 to 4) than the meal or the traditional paste (5 to
6). This could be due to volume differences in whipped pastes
Vol. 66, No. 6, 2001—JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE 51
 Cowpea Functionality and Akara Quality . . .
Table 3—Effect of milling method on the texture profile of
akara
Treatment Paste Hardness Cohesiveness Elasticity Chewiness
moisture (N) (mm) (kg.mm)
Control
akara 65% 15.9c 0.30c 2.28c
Meal
akara 58% 26.9b 0.24d 1.90d
Blended meal
akara 62% 22.8b 0.37b 2.65b
Flour
akara 52% 41.5a 0.44a 4.23a
a, b, c, d Mean values in a column not followed by the same superscript letter
are significantly different (p # 0.05).
Food Chemistry and Toxicology
caused partly by differences in foaming capacity and varied
paste moisture levels. In spite of adjusting the moisture level,
the sticky nature of the flour paste made it difficult to dispense
into the hot oil. This may have been due to its fine particle size
or to possible starch damage. The sticky nature necessitated
scraping it off from the spoon during dispensing.
Summary
W ET-MILLING OF FULLY HYDRATED RAW COWPEA COTYLEDONS
produced a paste with excellent foaming and water ab-
sorption properties. The freshly wet-milled paste also pro-
duced akara of superior textural characteristics (low hard-
ness value of 15.9 N). Pastes that were reconstituted from a
ready-to-use meal or flour, on the other hand, exhibited
poor functionality and produced akara of a denser and less
spongy texture (hardness of 26.9 N for meal akara). The tra-
ditional paste exhibited high WHC (3.80 g/g) and as much as
29.9 % reduction in paste specific gravity after whipping in
comparison to just 2.34 g/g WHC and 21.1% reduction for
meal paste. Wet-milling of meal produced a smooth paste
and significantly improved its functionality; however, there
was only a marginal improvement in akara texture (hardness
value lowered to 22.8 N) but a significant improvement in the
crumb structure. After wet-milling, the WHC of meal solids
increased from 2.34 to 3.20 g/g and the specific gravity re-
duction of whipped batter improved from 21.1 to 27.7 %. In-
tense dry-milling that generated a very fine flour adversely
affected its functionality (WHC reduced to 1.42 g/g and spe-
cific gravity reduction after whipping lowered to 18.5%) and
akara-making quality (extremely high hardness value of 41.5
Figure 1—Cross section of akara balls prepared from:
a. control paste, b. meal paste, c. blended meal paste,
d. flour paste
52 JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE—Vol. 67, Nr. 1, 2002
N) compared to the coarse meal.
References
Campbell AM, Penfield MP, Griswold RM. 1979. The Experimental Study of Food,
2nd ed. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. p 475.
Chhinnan MS, McWatters KH, Rao VNM. 1985. Rheological characterization of
1.11c grain legume pastes and effect of hydration time and water level on apparent
viscosity. J Food Sci 50(4):1167-1171.
Dovlo FE, Williams CE, Zoaka, L. 1976. Cowpeas: Home Preparation and Use in
1.21c West Africa, IRDC-055e. Ottawa, Canada: Int. Dev. Res. Centre, pp 29-30.
Friedman HH, Whitney JE, Szczesniak AS. 1963. The texturometer – A new in-
2.30b strument for objective texture measurement. J Food Sci 28(4):390-396.
Hespell RB. 1998. Extraction and characterization of hemicellulose from corn fiber
7.79a produced by corn wet-milling processes. J Agric Food Chem 46(7):2615-2619.
Henshaw FO, Lawal SA. 1993. Effects of processing method on the functional
properties of cowpea flour. Trop Sci 33(4):377-385.
Hung Y-C, Chinnan MS, McWatters KH. 1988. Effect of pre-decortication drying
treatment on the textural quality of cowpea products: seeds and akara. J Food
Sci 53(6):1778-1781.
Kerr WL, Ward CDW, McWatters KH, Resurreccion AVA. 2000. Effect of milling and
particle size on functionality and physicochemical properties of cowpea flour.
Cereal Chem 77(2):213-219.
Larrauri JA. 1999. New approaches in the preparation of high dietary fibre pow-
ders from fruit by-products. Trends Food Sci Tech 10(1):3-8.
McWatters KH. 1983. Compositional, physical and sensory characteristics of akara
processed from cowpea paste and Nigerian cowpea flour. Cereal Chem
60(5):333-336.
McWatters KH, Brantley BB. 1982. Characteristics of akara prepared from cow-
pea paste and meal. Food Technol 36(1):66-68.
McWatters KH, Chhinnan MS. 1985. Effect of hydration of cowpea meal on phys-
ical and sensory attributes of a traditional West African food. J Food Sci
50(2):444-446, 453.
McWatters KH, Chinnan MS, Hung Y-C, Branch AL. 1988. Effect of predecortica-
tion drying temperature on cowpea paste characteristics and functionality in
preparation of akara. Cereal Chem 65(1):23-27.
McWatters KH, Enwere NJ, Fletcher SM. 1992. Consumer response to akara (fried
cowpea paste) served plain or with various sauces. Food Technol 46(2):111-114.
McWatters KH, Hitchcock HL, Resurreccion AVA. 1991. Effect of frozen storage on
the quality of akara, fried cowpea paste (Vigna unguiculata). J Food Qual
14(2):165-174.
McWatters KH, Resurreccion AVA, Fletcher SM. 1990. Response of American con-
sumers to akara, a traditional West African food made from cowpea paste. Int
J Food Sci Technol 25(5):551-557.
McWatters KH, Hung C-YT, Hung Y-C, Chinnan MS, Phillips RD. 2001. Akara-
making characteristics of 5 U.S. varieties of cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata). J
Food Quality 24(1): 53-65.
Misra SK, Fletcher SM, McWatters KH. 1996. Consumer acceptance of a new fast
food: The case of akara. J Food Prod Mark 3(1):25-35.
Ngoddy PO, Enwere NJ, Onuorah VI. 1986. Cowpea flour performance in akara
and moin-moin preparations. Trop Sci 26(2):101-119.
Phillips RD, Chinnan MS, Branch AL, Miller J, McWatters KH. 1988. Effects of
pretreatment on functional and nutritional properties of cowpea meal. J Food
Sci 53(3):805-809.
Prinyawiwatkul W, McWatters KH, Beuchat LR, Phillips RD. 1994. Physical prop-
erties of cowpea paste and akara as affected by supplementation with peanut
flour. J Agric Food Chem 42(8):1750-1756.
Prinyawiwatkul W, McWatters KH, Beuchat LR, Phillips RD. 1996. Cowpea flour: A
potential ingredient in food products. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 36(5):413-436.
Reber EF, Eboh L, Aladeselu A, Brown WA, Marshall DD. 1983. Development of
high-protein low-cost Nigerian foods. J Food Sci 48(1):217-219.
Reichert RD. 1981. Quantitative isolation and estimation of cell wall material
from dehulled pea (Pisum sativum) flours and concentrates. Cereal Chem
58(4):266-270.
Robertson JA, Eastwood MA. 1981. An investigation of the experimental condi-
tions which could affect water-holding capacity of dietary fiber. J Sci Food Agric
32(8):819-825.
SAS Institute Inc. 1985. SAS User’s Guide: Statistics, Vers. 5.0. Cary, NC: SAS Insti-
tute Inc. 956 pp.
Sosulski FW, Sosulski K. 1986. Composition and functionality of protein, starch,
and fiber from wet and dry processing of grain legumes. In: Ory RL, editor:
Plant proteins: Applications, biological effects, and chemistry. ACS Sympo-
sium Series 312. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society. p 176-189.
Szczesniak AS, Brandt MA, Friedman HH. 1963. Development of standard rating
scales for mechanical parameters of texture and correlation between the objec-
tive and the sensory methods of texture evaluation. J Food Sci 28(14):397-403.
Williams CE. 1980. Cowpea flour innovation in a traditional dish and its accept-
ability in selected areas of Oyo division. Ph.D. Dissertation. Univ. of Ibadan,
Ibadan, Nigeria, p 142.
MS 20000711 Submitted 7/5/00, Accepted 3/26/2001, Received 7/11/01
This study was supported by the Bean/Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Program
(CRSP), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and by state and Hatch funds
allocated to the Univ. of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station-Griffin Campus. We ap-
preciate the technical support of Richard Stinchcomb and support and guidance of Dr.
Chyi-Shen Lin.
Authors are affiliated with the Dept. of Food Science and Technology Univ.
of Georgia, Griffin, GA 30223. Direct inquiries to: e-mail: yhung@
griffin.peachnet.edu.