The effectiveness of cyanogen reduction during cassava processing into miondo = Efficacité de la diminution des composés cyanés lors de la transformation du manioc en miondo

A study was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of village processing techniques in reducing cyanogens to very low levels in a Cameroonian cassava based food, miondo. The sub- processes used in the production of miondo were highly effective in reducing the total cyanogen content of the freshly harvested and unpeeled cassava (396.2-512.0 mg Hcn kg(-1)) to very low levels in the final product (1.4-2.8 mg Hcn kg(-1)), ready for consumption; this accounted for a mean overall reduction in total cyanogens of 99.5 percent (range 99.3-99.6 percent). On the third day of soaking when the roots had fermented and softened, an appreciable decrease was found in both ph and cyanogen levels which coincided with increases in cyanohydrin contents. In the later stages of processing, most of the residual cyanogens found in the fermented cassava pulp were in the form of cyanohydrins which were partially removed during boiling of the final product. In this study, the most important stages in the production of miondo, with regard to cyanogen reduction, were the soaking, mashing and dewatering sub-processes eng