EFFECT OF SIMPLE PROCESSING ON THE CYANOGENIC POTENTIAL OF TWO NEW CASSAVA CULTIVARS (TME 419 AND TMS 98/0505)

The processing effect on the cyanogenic potential of roots of two new cassava cultivars (TME 419 and TMS 98/0505) obtained from the germplasm bank from Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) Cali, Colombia and grown at National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike, Nigeria was studied using spectrophotometric method. These cultivars are planted and distributed to farmers by NRCRI, Umudike but have not been assessed for cyanogenic potential under their new climatic environment before and after processing. The cyanogenic potential of the root pulp in their unprocessed form ranged 40.0 + 0.2 to 60.0 + 0.3mgCN-kg-1, while processing into gari and oven dried chips resulted in cyanogenic potential of 0.29 + 0.01mgCN-kg-1 for TME 419 cultivar and 0.2 + 0.05mgCN-kg-1 for TMS 98/0505 for gari and 36.06mgCN-kg-1 for TME 419 and 34.16mgCN-kg-1 for TMS 98/0505 respectively for the chips. Therefore, the use of the processing methods used in this study has drastically reduced the cyanogenic potential of the product to safe levels.