American Journal of Chemistry 2014, 4(3): 89-96 DOI: 10.5923/j.chemistry.20140403.01 Chemical and Functional Properties and Performance of Blends of Water Yam (Dioscorea Alata) and Soybean (Glycine Max) Flours for Water Yam Ball (Ojojo) Preparation Olapade A. A. * , Akinyanju F. T. Department of Food Technology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria Abstract The performance of blends of water yam (Dioscorea alata) and Soybeans (Glycine max) flours for water yam ball preparation was investigated. Water yam and soybeans were processed into flours and 100% water yam flour served as the control sample. However, water yam ball was produced using water yam flour and soybeans flour which were blended at different ratio (ie 100%:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50). The proximate analysis and functional properties of the water yam-soybean flour were determined. The sensory evaluation showed that samples 90:10, 80:20 and 70:30 were the most acceptable because they contained little quantity of soy bean flour. Experimental studies were conducted using 30 albino rats for 21 days. The rats were fed with each of the samples while those fed with the basal diet served as the control. This study showed that the rats fed with the sample 50:50 increased massively in size more than those fed with the other samples. Conclusively, all the samples had no adverse effects on the rats. Keywords Water yam, Soybeans, Water yam soybean blends, Water yam ball (ojojo) 1. Introduction As reported by Osagie (1992), water yam contains 28 percent starch and protein of 1.1-2.0 percent. Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) results from prolonged deprivation of essential amino acids and total nitrogen and energy substrates (Dugler et al., 2002). Dietary energy and protein deficiencies usually occur together, although one sometimes predominates the other and if severe enough, may lead to clinical syndrome of kwarshiokor (Predominant protein deficiency) marasmus (mainly energy deficiency). In most developing countries including Nigeria, the economic situation is such that the low income families cannot afford protein rich foods from animal source to meet recommended dietary allowance. The diet of most people consists predominantly of cereals and roots which do not provide good quality protein in diet. Studies by the food and Agricultural organization have shown that over one billion people are undernourished in the world (Fasoyiro, 2005). One way to curb the global menace of (PEM) is through food enrichment of plant origin (Allan et al., 2006). * Corresponding author: aa.olapade@ui.edu.ng (Olapade A. A.) Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/chemistry Copyright © 2014 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved ‘Ojojo’ (water yam) is delicacy most popular among the Ijebu people of South-West Nigeria. These crisp spicy balls are prepared from freshly grated water yam and fried in oil which gives a striking resemblance with akara balls. It is mostly eaten with pap, eko, gari or agidi. It can also be eaten as a snack. Ojojo is mainly carbohydrates. Water yam is highly susceptible to deterioration because of its high moisture content (65-76%) (Opara, 1999). Basically, the purpose of this study is to evaluate acceptability of ojojo prepared from water yam flour enriched with soybeans flour, which contains protein that provides all the essential amino acids available in an amount that is close to those required by animals and humans. This will make it a convenient food to be easily cooked. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Materials (Water yam) Diosocrea Alata free from physical damage and bruises was purchased from Ijebu Ode in Ogun State. Soybeans were purchased from Bodija market in Ibadan. 2.2. Preparation of Water Yam Flour Standard procedure for the preparation of instant yam flour was used for the production of water yam flour as