Nutritional Composition, Rancidity Profile and Sensory Acceptability of Bread Produced Using Shea Butter as Shortening

The high cost of commercially available butter for bread production in developing countries is increasing bread prices but, in West Africa shearbutter which is a cheap vegetable fat has less utilization. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of its addition on bread production. Shea butter (Raw and deodorized) were added to bread dough at 15, 20, 25 and 30 g and 20g of margarine added to bread dough served as a control sample. The proximate composition, peroxide value and free fatty acid of the bread samples were determined and sensory acceptability of bread samples were determined by 25-member panelist. The percentages of crude protein, moisture, crude ash, crude fat, crude fibre and carbohydrate contents of the bread samples ranged as 13.77 – 28.89, 28.13 – 31, 0.83 – 1.83, 1.89 – 3.62, 0.27 – 0.85 and 34.26 – 53.45%, respectively. The peroxide value and free fatty acid ranged as 7.00 – 14.27 meq/kg and 0.075 – 0.132%, respectively. Shea butter inclusion led to a significant increase in crude protein, ash and crude fat contents and significant difference in all the sensory parameters evaluated. However, acceptability rating showed that addition up to 25g of raw or deodorized Shea butter could be acceptable.