Production Standardization and Nutritional Characterization of Rice Fritters Marketed in Cameroon

Abstract

Rice fritter is a fermented food produced using traditional technology, and its consumption has become important these last years. However, as its technological production is not well mastered due to multitude production processes, information on the production process and the nutritional value of rice fritters remains unknown. This study was designed to produce rice fritters with good nutritional value by standardizing its production. A randomized cross-study was carried out, and knowledge on the production process and the ingredients’ origin was collected from 298 consumers and 104 producers of 7 cities of Cameroon (Bafoussam, Banyo, Foumban, Foumbot, Yaoundé, Ngaoundéré, and Maroua). It was a randomize cross-study. Thus, the nutritional characterization of rice fritters marked and the rheological properties of rice flours commonly used were carried out in the laboratory by using standardized methods. About 93.3% people producing rice fritter were women, from the north (40.4%) and permanent traders (60.6%). Moreover, 83.7% of producers used a mixture of rice–wheat flour while 16.3% used only rice flour. Producers used both local and imported rice grains. Marketed rice fritters contained ash (1.38%–2.17%), proteins (7.19%–10.35%), lipids (13.82%–21.72%), fibers (1.38%–2.54%), and carbohydrates (67.16%–74.17%). Independently of collection city and although the production steps were identical, some differences recorded in the step of making dough led to four commonly used production processes and fritters made by Process 2 (which differed from the others especially with the addition of milk (100–200 mL)) had the highest macro- and micronutrient contents.