Title: Improvement of nutritive quality and acceptability of maize snacks with capelin (mallotus villosus) flour

The aim of this study was to increase utilisation of dried capelin powder through production of maize and fish snack products. Three sets of spices combinations at 3.5% of the recipe: ginger and garlic (GG), ginger and cardamom (GCM) and ginger and cinnamon (GCN) were used to mask the fish odour and flavour in produced snacks. A sample of 12.5 g/100g dried capelin powder without spices (WS) was used as control by trained and untrained panellists during sensory assessment of the snack products. The proximate compositions of the snacks containing 12.5 and 17.5g/100g of dried capelin powder were: Protein (10.3–14.2), total fat (4.0 – 4.6), Ash (3.3 – 3.8) and free fatty acid (8.1 – 12.1) g/100g. Furthermore, the acidity (pH), water content and water activity ranged from: (3.7 – 4.4), (2.0– 2.2) and (0.066 – 0.074) % respectively. Similarly, the peroxide value and total microbial count ranged from 12.9 – 24meq of PV/kg of fish oil and 40 – 80 CFU/g for the two formulations. There was significant difference (P < 0.05) in overall liking between snacks with spices (GCN) when compared with spices (GG) and control sample (WS). Moreover, a significant difference (P < 0.05) was found in organoleptic attributes between snacks with spices (GCM) and (GG). Furthermore, the increased concentration of dried capelin powder affects the texture attributes of snacks. A minimum force of 1,573(N) was required to break a control sample (WS) compared to average force of 1,924(N) of the same snacks with spices. As the concentration of dried capelin powder increased to 15 and 17.5g/100g, the force required to break the snacks was increased to 2,264 and 2,817(N) respectively. This suggests that different concentrations of dried capelin powder must be applied to produce snack products with convenient texture attributes to a wider range of target consumers (children, youth, adults, and older adults) on the market. Finally, the study has shown that with application of spices, there are possibilities to enrich maize with dried capelin powder to produce snack products with better nutrition and acceptable organoleptic attributes. This will align with increasing utilisation of underutilised fish species in the food supply chain. Consequently, this will contribute towards food security and health improvement.