Cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) also known as yucca, manioc and mandioc in various parts of South America is a herbaceous perennial crop of the Euphorbiaceae family (Ngoka, 1997). Cassava belongs to the order Malpighiales, sub-family crotonoideae, genus manihot and species Manihot esculenta (FAO, 2008). In Nigeria where it is consumed extensively as the major staple food, cassava is known among the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa tribes as ‘akpu’, ‘ege’ and ‘rogo’ respectively. The two major varieties grown in Nigeria are the sweet and bitter varieties which are classified on the basis of the cyanogenic glucoside contents of their roots (Erhabor and Emokaro, 2007).

The edible parts of cassava are the roots and the leaves. The roots of sweet varieties may be eaten raw, roasted in an open fire or boiled in water. According to Nweke et al., (2002), the cyanogenic glucosides in the roots are destroyed by slowly cooking the roots in water. Boiled cassava roots may be pounded alone or in combination with other starch staple foods such as; yam, cocoyam, sweet potato, etc and then eaten with soup. Nweke and Kormawa (2004) reported that cassava roots are processed into local cassava snack foods in the eastern part of Nigeria known as Abacha, Eberebe, Jigbo, Mpataka and Nsisa by peeling, washing, boiling, cooling, shredding, soaking in water and may be sundried prior to eaten. Cassava roots can also be processed locally into granulated csassava products such as garri which has a long shelf-life and in a ready-to-eat form (Cardoso et al., 2005, Onabolu, 2001). Presently, cassava roots can be processed into modern cassava food products such as cassava meat cakes, cassava chaps, cassava relish, cassava flakes, cassava cookies and cassava strips (IITA, 2006). On the other hand, the leaves are also good source of vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium and protein. In Tanzania and Congo, rural cassava farmers plant “tree cassava” called ‘Mpuru’ and ‘Pondu’ respectively which they prepare by leaching the glucosides in hot water, pounding the leaves into pulp with a mortar and pestle and then boiling in water with groundnut, fish and oil (Nwekeet al., 2002).

There are a lot of problems associated with cassava storage, processing and maximum utilization as food in the tropics where is it grown. Cassava roots are highly perishable and therefore cannot be stored in fresh form after harvest for more than a few days (Oluwole et al., 2004). Cassava roots most especially the bitter varieties contain a lot of cyanogenic glucosides (Linamarin and Lotaustralin) which hydrolyses in the presence of the enzyme linamarase contained in the roots to give toxic hydrocyanide acid when the cells are disrupted (Iwuoha et al., 2003). Despite being a cheap source of food calories, cassava is nutritionally deficient in protein (Adindu and Aprioku, 2006). Enwere (1998) also reported that cassava is deficient in the essential aminos acids; methionine, lysine, tryptophan, phenylalanine and tyrosine but rich in arginine.

The soybean seeds were sorted manually using a stainless steel tray, weighed and then steeped in a ratio of 1:3 (seed to water) of distilled water at room temperature for 12hours. The water was constantly changed every 3hours to avoid the fermentation of the seeds. When this time elapsed, the hydrated seeds were then spread on jute bags at room temperature to germinate. Water was usually sprinkled on the seeds every 4hours before germination started after 24 hours. This germination was terminated on the fourth day by drying the sprouted seeds in a Genlab oven set at 60⁰c for 3 hours. The fourth day of sprouting or germination was chosen because, a preliminary malting carried out earlier showed that the maximum length of the sprouted or germinated seeds’ radicles occurred on the fourth day of germination and this indicated the peak of enzyme activities in the seeds. The temperature range and time frame were used to ensure that enough activated enzymes remained in the malted flour without being destroyed completely. After drying, the seeds were then dehulled manually and the hulls and dried radicles removed via manual winnowing using a plastic tray. The seeds in this form were finally milled into flour using an electric milling machine, sifted with sieves of aperture size (53ɥm) and then allowed to cool before being put into a plastic container where it was tightly covered and stored for analysis.

From the results obtained, it is quite evident that up to 30% substitution of wheat flour with cassava flour in bread production could be achieved using malted soybean as an improver. This also resulted in breads whose sensory attributes and proximate compositions could be compared with breads produced from 100% wheat flour. Based on these findings, it is recommended that malted soybean flour be used as an improver in cassava bread production which is now the in-thing in the country to reduce the pressure on wheat flour. Also that soybean should be cultivated more so that there will not be scarcity when it is needed.