Effect of Clonal Variation on Quality of Kocho, Traditional Fermented Food from Enset (Ensete Ventricosum), Musaceae

Enset (Ensete ventricosum Welw. Cheesman) is an important multipurpose crop serving for a large part of the Ethiopian population living in the southern and southwestern parts of the country. Survey on indigenous knowledge of farmers on local system of selection and identification of enset varieties was carried out in three localities of Sidama zone, namely: Chafee Jebesa (3 km east of Hawassa), Tulla and Abella 13 and 16 km, respectively, (south of Hawassa) from November 2011 to July 2011. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the sensory characteristics in relation to a nutritional analysis of selected top ten enset varieties. Open – ended and semi-structured purposive questionnaires targeted on best varieties of enset commonly used in the above mentioned localities were used for the survey. The sensory characteristics such as appearance, odor, taste, sourness, dryness and texture of kocho samples prepared from each selected enset variety were evaluated using a sensory panel of judges. Nutritional analysis of the selected varieties was also carried out using Official Methods of Analysis (AOAC, 1984, 1990, 1995). The results of nutritional analysis revealed that there was no significant difference among the selected varieties in terms of their moisture and ash content. The values of moisture content ranged from 59.90 to 63.30% while ash content was between 2.11 to 2.35%. However significant differences have been observed among the selected varieties in terms of their protein (2.93 to 3.51%), fat (0.43 to 1.25%), fiber (3.22 to 4.57%) and carbohydrate (49.21 to 64.15%) content. This is mainly attributed to varietal differences among the selected enset plants. In conclusion, varietal variation can affect proximate composition as well as sensory characteristics of the final product. This investigation can be the starting point for the selection of varieties of better nutritional value to reduce possible dietary insufficient uptake particularly of proteins and calories in the area.