MICROMORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES OF STARCH GRANULES IN SELECTED PROCESSED INDIGENOUS FLOUR OF SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA

Starch granules of yam stem tubers, plantain fruits and cassava root tubers were studied using the light microscope and then compared. Yam and plantain, both monocotyledons, had morphologically similar granules between locations, being mostly oval in shape while the granules of cassava, a dicot, were predominantly globular but varied between locations. Differences in processing methods between locations might be responsible for the observed variation in cassava granules. There is a suggestion that starch granule morphology might follow lineages in a broad sense. The unique micromorphology of cassava starch granule could make it easily detectable when adulterated, substituted or contaminated with yam or plantain granules and this could provide a cost effective clue in forensic determination .