Multivariate analysis of the effect of drying method and particle size of flour on the instrumental texture characteristics of paste made from two varieties of taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) flour

The present study aimed at determining the effect of variety (red and yellow varieties), drying technique (solar and electric drying) of precooked taro and flour particle size (500, 1000 and 1500 μm) on the texture of achu (taro based paste). The flours were reconstituted into achu and their texture evaluated using an Instron machine under the stress-relaxation procedure. The results show a significant effect of variety on the force of adhesion (FOA), with the yellow variety exhibiting the higher value compared to the red variety. Achu electric dried was observed to exhibit lower force of relaxation (FOR) and rate of relaxation (ROR) and a higher viscoelasticity index (VEI). An increase in particle size was found to induce significant (p < 0.05) decrease in FOA, hardness and FOR, while no consistent variations were observed on VEI and ROR. Principal component analysis showed that a more than 50% similarity between achu sun dried particle size of 500 and 1000 μm and that traditionally made.