Nutritional Evaluation of Enhanced Unsieved Ogi Paste with Garlic and Ginger

Ogi is a cheap and readily available health-sustaining fermented food in Africa. This study assessed the effect of enhancing unsieved ogi paste with garlic and ginger (2% and 4%) both individually and together on organoleptic acceptability and nutritional changes. These pastes were subjected to seven treatments at ambient and refrigerated temperatures for 4 weeks during which sensory analysis was carried out, and mineral content, total antioxidant activities, and proximate composition were evaluated. Ogi (maize) enhanced with 2% garlic+2% ginger and ogi (sorghum) enhanced with 4% garlic+2% ginger were most preferred. There was no significant difference in organoleptic evaluation of the preferred enhanced ogi pastes compared to the control samples. Crude protein ranged between 7.73~9.19% and 9.83~10.08% for control ogi, and between 7.76~8.36% and 10.07~10.92% in the maize and sorghum enhanced ogi pastes, respectively. The fat contents of all pastes were significantly different at P<0.05. Antioxidant properties of ogi paste were enhanced by ginger and garlic. Ogi supplemented with 4% garlic+2% ginger showed the highest radical scavenging activity (0.75~0.97 IC₅₀ mg/mL). The results show that garlic and ginger either alone or in combination have potential to enhance the nutritional value of ogi pastes, and demonstrate the acceptability of using maize or sorghum as primary raw materials.