Physical and Cooking Characteristics of Six Cowpea Varieties Seeds Cultivated in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Cowpea is essential in the diet in Burkina Faso. The information on their physical properties and cooking quality is important for consumer acceptance. This study has therefore been undertaken in order to fill the gap. Thus, six cowpea varieties were evaluated for their physical and cooking properties. The seeds had between 9% to 12% moisture. For physical proprieties, the result revealed that the variety Makoyin had the highest seed length (9.65 mm), the variety Gourgou recorded the highest seed width (7.08 mm), seed thickness (5.13 mm), and seed area (153.29 mm 2 ), and 100-seeds weight (21.1 g). The lowest seed sizes were presented by the variety Teeksongo with values of 7.88 mm, 6.34 mm, 4.88 mm, 122.68 mm 2 , and 16.87 g for respectively the length, the width, the thickness, the area, and the 100-seeds weight. The variety Makoyin produces seed elliptical form and varieties Neerwaya, Gourgou, Yipoussi and Issa-sosso, and Teek-songo the seeds spherical form. For cooking proprieties, the highest value of the bulk density of the seeds was presented in the variety Teek-song (1.51 g/ml). The highest hydration and swelling capacity were observed in varieties Gourgou (0.22 g/seed and 0.24 ml/seed respectively) and Yipoussi (0.22 g/seed and 0.21 ml/seed respectively). The seed with large size, greater hydration, and swelling capacity is preferred by consumers and processors for food products. Varieties Makoyin, Neerwaya, Gourgou, Yipoussi, and Issa-sosso presented cooking time of unsoaked seeds equal to one hour (from 60 to 68 min) excepted Teek-songo which had 46 min. These cooking times are acceptable for consumers. Seed length, surface area, thickness, the weight of seeds, hydration capacity, and cooking time have been the most discriminating among the cowpea varieties studied.