Physico-Chemical Properties of Six Varieties of Taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) Flour

Taro also known as banda is an important tuber crop and is grown throughout tropical and subtropical regions of world. It is used as vegetable and is also consumed directly after boiling. The present study was conducted in the Department of Food Science and Technology N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj. Corms/cormels of six taro varieties [NDB-2, NDB-3, NDB-9, NDB-9, EC-20 and NDB-21] were converted into flour and analysed for some physico-chemical properties. In general a wide variation was observed in the chemical compositions of the flour samples analysed. On a dry weight basis, crude protein ranges between 9.30-10.90%, available carbohydrate 71.92-73.05%; crude fibre 1.00-1.69%; ash 5.78-6.65% and crude fat 0.72-0.86%. Apart from this, variety NDB-2 recorded highest amount of total sugars(6.33%). The results also revealed that the corms of variety NDB-2 contained lowest level of oxalic acid and was found suitable for preparation of chips.