DETERMINATION OF THE PHYSICAL, THERMAL, PARTICLE SIZE AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF DIFFERENT STRAINS OF COCOYAM (COLOCASIA ESCULENTA)

The Determination of the Engineering Properties of Different Strains of Colocasia esculenta was studied. Five different strains of Colocasia esculenta (Coco India, Ede ofe green, Ede ofe purple, Ede ofe giant and Ukpong were sourced and used in the study. The Colocasia esculenta corms were subjected to physical and thermal properties analyses. The corms were further processed into flour and subjected to particle size determination and rheological properties using standard methods. The physical properties of the Colocasia esculenta strains ranged from 58.93 to 87.89 mm lengths, 34.29 to 79.74 mm width, 30.06 to 64.16 mm thickness, 61.10 to 93.50 sphericity, 40.36 to 73.75 mm Geometric Mean Diameter, 42.46 to 74.26 mm Arithmetic Mean Diameter, 40.61 to 129.74 g Mass, 5118.46 to 17092.71 mm² Surface area, 0.41 to 0.81 Aspect ratio, 34414.96 to 210017.95 mm³ volume and 0.001 to 0.001 g/mm³ True density. Thermal properties of the different strains of Colocasia esculenta ranged from 1.52 to 1.73 kJ/kg/K specific heat capacity, 0.27 to 0.27 W/moK thermal conductivity and 1.10 to 2.86 mm²/s thermal diffusivity. The particle size distribution of the different Colocasia esculenta ranged from 1.36 to 40.25%. The rheological Properties of the different strains of Colocasia esculenta ranged from 107.00 to 165.05 RVU peak viscosity, 103.81 to 148.98 RVU trough, 3.20 to 37.93 RVU breakdown viscosity, 124.35 to 182.12 RVU final viscosity, 20.54 to 53.27 RVU setback viscosity and 5.21 to 6.82 min peak time. The study concludes that the different Colocasia esculenta strains exhibited considerable variations in engineering properties and that producers should focus on the Ede ofe giant strain for markets that prioritize larger corms with better cooking qualities.