Abstract
Moringa oleifera is a significant food item which has had huge consideration the 'natural nutrition of the tropics'. M. oleifera is very important for its nutritional and medicinal value. Flaxseed are also emerging as a "super food" as more scientific research points to their health benefits. Therefore, in this study, various levels of both M. oleifera and flaxseed were incorporated into chicken burger manufacture to supplement this important food product with their nutritional and therapeutic values. Analyses of the physicochemical and sensory characteristics, phenolic compounds, cooking properties and fatty acids content of burger were conducted. The results indicated that the partial replacement of chicken meat by different levels of FS flour and ML powder gradually increased the total fat and dietary fibers contents from 6% to 9 % and from 1.36 % to 12.47%, respectively. The ash, total phenols and flavonoids content of chicken burger formulations containing FS/ ML markedly increased from 1.8 g/100 g to 3.6 g/100g, 0.0067g/100g to 0.046g/100g and 0.004g/100 g to 0.112 g/100g, respectively. The total unsaturated fatty acid UFA of chicken burger samples increased from 10.018 mg/100g in the control treatment to 20.69 mg/100g in T2. On the other hand, linoleic acid was the most abundant polyunsaturated fatty acids (15.054 mg/100g) found in T1 and T2. The polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)/saturated fatty acid index increased from 0.82 in the control to 1.41 in T1. Various formulations of burger contained appreciable amounts of the macro-minerals as well as the micro-mineral iron. The cooking characteristics of chicken burger were improved while the sensory attributes were slightly decreased. The study concluded that a combination of FS and ML can be utilized as novel fixings to create chicken burger with high nutritive value and organoleptic properties. Future research include investigation of the pharmacological properties of different parts of M. oleifera multipurpose tree as well as incorporation in other food items.