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Novel pearl millet couscous process for West African markets using a low-cost single-screw extruder |
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| Authors: | Moustapha Moussa Amudhan Ponrajan Osvaldo H Campanella Martin R Okos Mario M Martinez Bruce R Hamaker |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Food Science, Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907 USA
Institut National de Researche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN), BP 429, Niamey, Niger Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Data curation (lead), Formal analysis (lead), ?Investigation (lead), Methodology (equal), Supervision (supporting), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal);2. Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907 USA Contribution: ?Investigation (supporting), Methodology (equal), Writing - original draft (supporting);3. Department of Food Science and Technology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210-1007 USA Contribution: Methodology (equal), Supervision (supporting);4. Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907 USA Contribution: Methodology (equal), Supervision (supporting);5. Center for Innovative Food (CiFOOD), Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, AgroFood Park 48, Aarhus, N 8200 Denmark Contribution: ?Investigation (supporting), Methodology (supporting), Writing - original draft (supporting), Writing - review & editing (supporting);6. Department of Food Science, Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907 USA |
| Abstract: | Traditional West African pearl millet couscous products are popular; however, their preparation is laborious, time-consuming and energy-demanding, involving agglomeration, steaming, drying and sieving steps. In this study, a process was developed to produce millet couscous using a high pressure, high temperature and low-cost single-screw extruder. The innovation was to directly process the cooked low-moisture extrudate to a couscous product by drying and milling to the appropriate particle size (ranging between 1 and 2 mm). Throughput for the traditional process as prepared for commercial sale is 50 kg per day, but with the same amount of labour, the extrusion process yields ~350 kg per day. A consumer sensory study held in Niamey (Niger) showed that the extruded millet couscous was comparable to traditional couscous, though this was dependent on selection of the proper millet variety. This novel extrusion process could stimulate small- to medium-scale manufacturing of couscous and couscous-type products in West Africa. |
| Keywords: | couscous extrusion pearl millet |
