Sensory evaluation of different preparations of cassava leaves from three species as a leafy vegetable

Cassava leaves are largely consumed in Africa and are among the top three African indigenous vegetables rich in nutrients. Leaves from bitter ( Manihot utilissima ), sweet ( Manihot dulcis ) and wild ( Manihot glaziovii ) species of cassava were cooked by boiling in salted (sodium bicarbonate and table salt) water with the addition of palm oil and ground-nut paste, following processing by “pounding”, “pounding and then drying” and, “drying and then pounding”. The drying was done in tunnel solar drier at temperature of 65°C on average. Nine samples (three species x three processing methods) were evaluated by 31 panelists, using a five point hedonic scale, where 5 = like very much and 1= dislike very much. Cassava species affected significantly (p = 0.0047; 0.0206) scoring for texture and overall acceptability, respectively, but not for colour, aroma and taste. Processing method highly significantly (p< 0.0001) affected all the sensory attributes scoring. Leaves from all three  species were liked as leafy vegetable, except when pounded after drying. Key words : Cassava leaves, cassava species, sensory characteristics, tunnel solar drying, processing methods, Rwanda.