Résumé
Nigeria is a multi-ethnic country with diverse eating habits and preferences for food characteristics can be influenced by factors such as socio-economic status, household size, culture, health perceptions etc. The objective of this study is to study cassava stakeholders' quality characteristics for consumption of the well-known West-African food dough-like cassava product called Eba. We are aiming to better understand the relationships between overall liking and quality characteristics identified during activity 3 gendered food mapping and activity 4 participatory processing under WP1 RTB Foods. A hedonic, a Check-All-That-Applies and Just-about-right tests were conducted with 301 consumers at eight locations (4 villages, 2 major towns and 2 cities) in Osun and Benue state in Nigeria using Eba made from two commonly cultivated, two improved and one biofortified cassava varieties. There were significant differences between states for the mean overall liking of the four Eba samples (p≤0.05) but there was no strong significant difference by men and women. The study revealed differences in consumers' overall liking for Eba samples. The JAR and CATA test results confirmed that colour-appearance, texture, odour, and granule size affected overall liking of Eba. Desired characteristics of eba identified in the study are 'white' or 'cream colour' 'mouldable', 'good odour', 'neat' and 'good taste' while consumers described 'bad' eba as 'dull/dark/brown', 'too sticky', 'too soft', 'not stretchy', and 'tasteless' 'with fibres'. Breeders need to incorporate sensory testing and consumer acceptability of food products in cassava breeding evaluation activities to identify cassava that meet stakeholders' consumption needs and preferences. Breeding of cassava with desired food qualities along with the best agronomic traits will enhance adoption and utilization by cassava end-users.