EVALUATION OF PROXIMATE AND SENSORY QUALITIES OF BEEF BALANGU SMOKED WITH DIFFERENT FUEL WOOD SPECIES

This study investigated the proximate and sensory qualities of beef balangu smoked with
different fuel wood species. The research consisted of five (5) treatments involving one kilogram
(1kg) each of beef smoked with geza (Combretum micratum), kalgo (Piliostigmathonningii),
malga (Cassia sieberiana), sabara (Guiera senegalensis) and oven. After smoking, each meat
from the treatments was carefully cut into 13 pieces of approximately equal weight. Three
samples from each treatment group were used for proximate analysis, while ten (10) samples
from each treatment group were used for sensory analysis using a panel of 10 untrained judges.
Data on proximate and sensory analysis were subjected to analysis of variance (SPSS) using
IBM SPSS (version 20) significant means were separated using the Tukey test at 5%. The
proximate composition of Balangu meat varied with the different fuel wood species used. Oven
dry treatment performed best overall with the highest crude protein (26.58%) and balanced
nutrient profile, followed closely by sabara which also had high protein (26.40%) and the
highest ash content (1.31%), indicating better mineral retention. Kalgo and malga showed
moderate protein values (23.65% and 23.63% respectively), with kalgo being richer in fat and
minerals than malga. Geza had the poorest performance nutritionally, with the lowest protein
content (20.15%) despite having the highest fat level (4.28%). Thus, the order of performance
in terms of overall nutritional quality is: Oven Dry >Sabara>Kalgo>Malga> Geza. Sensory
results showed that, the panelist sensory judgment established significant differences (p<0.05)
on acceptability scoring (13.47) and aroma (11.84) on a 15-point scale, while flavor, juiciness
and Tenderness shows no significant difference (P>0.05) across the treatment. It was concluded
that from all the treatment assessed, meat samples smoked with sabara and roasted in oven have
higher protein content (26.397 and 26.583, respectively). It is recommended that, sabara wood
and oven should be utilized by the meat processors and households especially during festivities,
this is due the fact that they have higher protein content.