Good nutrition is important for maintaining and improving the health status of an individual
(Fariz et al., 2024). One of the major contributing factors that promote one’s nutritional status and good health as well as prevent diseases is a healthy diet
(Fariz et al., 2024) which is further confirmed that the continuous consumption of animal-sourced products by an individual exposes him/her to health-related risks such as cardiovascular diseases, colorectal cancer and type 2 diabetes in both men and women
(Nyambayo et al., 2024). This means, the selection of plant-based diets is influenced by the desire for better health, religion, the environment and ethical consciousness which may be triggered by food choices
(AbuKhader et al., 2022; Venter de Villiers et al., 2024). This desire has been accelerating globally over the last decades (
Venter de Villiers et al., 2024) causing an unprecedented demand for plant-based food due to the surge in popularity of vegetarian food among both vegetarians and non-vegetarians
(Lim et al., 2025).
In recent times, there has been a surge in vegetarian restaurants in Ghana, with no data on the number of vegetarians or vegan in the country aligning to the findings of
Lim et al., (2025) whose research conducted in recent decades has shown that vegetarians and other vegetable-based diets have a substantial positive impact on human health. Agreeing to the numerous health advantages linked to vegetarian and vegan plant-based diets,
Alcorta et al., (2021) found vegetarian diets as better body weight and postprandial metabolism (which lowers blood pressure), protection against cancer and heart disease, weight management and overall well-being.
The consumption of animal based protein such as meat, chicken, pork and the like are frowned upon for religious and custom reasons
(Ali et al., 2017), an important legume crop that is commonly grown in low-input production systems is cowpea (
Vigna unguiculata) with high protein proportion (17% to 25%) among other nutrients such as fats, minerals and carbohydrates which are rich in two essential amino acids Lysine and tryptophan
(Phillips et al., 2022) can be used as a substitute for the same purpose. The addition of other plant seeds like powdered melon seeds, sesame seeds as well as African locus beans also helps to improve the nutritional content of plant-based foods
(Faisal et al., 2024). The consumption of cowpeas is of enormous benefit to humankind
(Saravanan et al., 2023). Based on the above benefit of cowpea, the commodity could be used to produce
shito for vegetarians to help them derive the maximum benefit which is similar to salsa in Mexico and ketchup in the United States, a hot and spicy chili pepper sauce. It is a recipe owned by the Ghanaian community, used to accompany a variety of dishes such as kenkey, waakye, banku and other carbohydrate dishes. This pepper sauce
shito is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans because it is prepared with shrimps and anchovies powder and occasionally beef is added. In the preparation of this
shito sauce, cowpea flour is an alternative to the animal source which forms a major ingredient in its preparation. This study aimed to explore the use of cowpea in the preparation of vegetarian shito.
Plant-based diet and nutrition
Consuming more fresh or less processed plant foods and less meat, eggs and dairy products are characteristics of plant-based diet of which cowpeas are not exempted. It involves eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds than a diet high in meat. Health officials have acknowledge that diets that prioritize eating more plant-based foods have significant health benefits, such as a lower risk of heart disease, several types of cancer and type 2 diabetes
(Alcorta et al., 2021). Though concerns have been raised about some nutritional inadequacies of a vegan diet such as Zinc, vitamins, iron and many other nutrients, the recommended level of these nutrients can still be achieved with a well-planned vegan diet which includes cowpeas. The practice of vegetarianism involving the exclusion of all animal flesh and products may confer enormous health benefits as high fiber and low saturated fat
(Kent et al., 2022). It has also been highlighted that, a vegetarian and for that matter vegan diet can be nutritionally adequate for all stages of the life cycle from infants to old age
(Simeone et al., 2022).
The requirement of a well-balanced intake of amino acids in a vegetarian diet can be met if only more varied plant-based food is consumed. This has been necessitated as a result of one or two deficiencies of amino acids in vegetarian dishes which is opposite on the side of meat-eaters (
McClements, 2023). Cardiovascular diseases which is one of the major causes of death in the world is not an exception, the intake of vegetarian and vegan diets has a positive protective effect against coronary heart diseases
(Kaiser et al., 2021).
Plant-based diets also contain a variety of antioxidants that help prevent oxidative stress, which is a major factor in the development of cancer and the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis
(Mehta et al., 2023). It has been shown that plant-based diets have a larger level of fiber, which helps with digestion and prevents cancer, even though they have lower intakes of saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, calcium, vitamin B12 and vitamin D
(Sridhar et al., 2023).
Diabetes is extrinsically linked to obesity as a result of animal products leading to a higher body mass index (BMI) which is the most critical risk factor significantly lowered by the intake of a plant-based diet and this also has a lower risk of cardiovascular attack
(Salehin et al., 2023).
Shito
Shito also known in the local language of Ghana (Ga), pepper sauce similar to salsa in Mexico and ketchup in the United States can be prepared from cowpea to replace the animal source protein used in its preparation in other to help vegans derive maximum benefits. It is a hot and spicy chili pepper sauce prepared from vegetable oil, onion, ginger, garlic, tomato puree, dried pepper, stock cube, smoked shrimp, fish powder and other spices. The ingredients are mixed and cooked in oil to form the sauce
(Opoku et al., 2022). With an emphasis on condiments, it has several uses in the food industry. In Ghana, dishes like “kenkey,” “eba,” or “waakye” (rice and beans) can be served with it. As a condiment, “shito” is chosen over other hot sauces
(Opoku et al., 2022).
Research design
The research was an experimental design which involved the formulation of vegetarian
shito made from four different formulations of cowpea flour after treatment variations (SCF
8, SCF
25, SCP and BCF). Questionnaires with 9-point Likert scale were administered to respondents for the sensory qualities of the cowpea
shito randomly in Mount Carmel Girls Senior High School, Techiman.
Sources of raw material
Black eye cowpeas, onions, cayenne pepper, alligator pepper, rosemary, nutmeg, salt ginger, garlic and dawadawa were obtained from the local market in Techiman Municipality in the Bono East Region of Ghana and sorted to remove unwanted materials before the production.
Cowpea samples and pre-treatment
Cowpea samples were subjected to four different pre-treatment methods before converting into flour. The flour sample codes and their corresponding pre-treatment are presented in Table 1 below:
Cowpea flour production
Raw cowpea flour
A measured amount of 400 g of raw cowpea was milled into flour, spread on a flat table to cool and packaged for final use.
Soaked cowpea flour (SCF8 and SCF25)
Fig 1 below represents a process flow chart for soaked cowpea (SCF
8 SCF
25) flour production
. According to the figure, two samples were produced and coded as SCF
8 and SCF
25 using 400 g of cowpea which were soaked in four litres of water at 8
oC for twenty-four hours respectively. Each of the samples were strained using 4 mm pore size colander, rinsed and oven-dried for twenty minutes at 20
oC, milled using bosch miller at 650 rpm, spread on a flat table to cool for thirty minutes and packed for final use.
Sprouted cowpea flour (SCP) and blanched cowpea flour (BCF)
Fig 2 presents a process flow chart for sprouted cowpea flour production and blanched cowpea flour. According to the figure, a weighed amount of 400 g of cowpeas were soaked in four litres of water for twenty-four hours at room temperature. The water was strained using 4 mm pore size colander and was further rinsed with clean water. The cowpeas were evenly spread on a tray of five inches in width and ten inches in length lined with cotton fabric (Damask) and further covered with another cotton fabric (Damask). The sample was kept at 26
oC for seventy-two hours to allow proper germination/sprouting to take place. They were oven dried for twenty minutes at a temperature of 30
oC and then milled into flour using bosch miller at 650 rpm, the flour was spread on a flat table for thirty minutes to cool and packaged for later use.
Cowpea shito preparation
Fig 3 and Table 2 presents a process flow chart for cowpea shito preparation, according to the figure, a weighed 200 g of onion, garlic (5 g) and ginger (5 g) were blended. The blended ingredients with tomato puree were poured into a thick bottom pan and cooked at a temperature of 200
oC for 45 minutes. 750 ml oil was added and allowed to cook for 15 minutes. Powdered cayenne pepper (100 g) and alligator pepper (5 g), tomato paste (400 g), powdered carrot (10 g), the variants of the cowpea flour (400 g), nutmeg (5 g), rosemary (5 g), salt (5 g) and dawadawa (10 g) were added to the mixture, stirred and allowed to cook until the colour turns dark brown. The mixture was allowed to cool and poured into sterilized bottles, sealed and labelled for the sensory analysis.
Consumer acceptability of cowpea Shito
The samples’ acceptability among consumers was assessed using a 9-point hedonic scale, where 1 corresponds to an extreme dislike and 9 to an extreme like to determine the attributes of the
shito such as taste, aroma, color, spiciness and overall acceptability using 50 respondents. The respondents were given cucumber as a cleanser, after tasting each sample to remove traces of the previous sample in the mouth to prevent a carry-over effect on the subsequent product after tasting.
Statistical analysis
The data obtained from the sensory tests were coded and inputted into the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 21) for further statistical analyses. Also, descriptive statistics were conducted and this encompassed means, standard deviation and coefficient of variations as well as significant differences. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted by use of Turkey at a confidence level of 95%.
Data from Table 3 reveals that sample BCFS received the highest rating for taste (8.14) followed by sample SCPS (7.44) which represents like very much and like moderately respectively on the hedonic scale. Sample SCF
25S received the lowest rating (5.78) for taste. While there was no significant difference (p≤0.05) in the flavor of samples SCF
8S and SCF
25S, there was a significant difference between the taste of sample BCFS and the others (SCFS, SCF
8S, SCF
25S and SCPS). This finding contrasts with that of
(Opoku et al., 2022), who found that oyster mushroom black hot pepper sauce “Shito” had a mean of 3.14, which indicates that it is neither tasty nor highly tasty.
The aroma of the samples from Table 3 ranged from 4.14 to 7.70, with sample SCFS (4.14) having the lowest rating and sample BCFS (7.7) having the highest rating. There was a statistically significant difference between the aroma of sample SCF and the others (p≤0.05) Work done by
Kim et al., (2016) reported that, the aroma of pepper oil sauce was rated good which is similar to the results of this study.
The samples’ color rating also revealed that sample BCF was most preferred in terms of color with a rating of 7.04 representing moderately on the hedonic scale. All the other samples were liked slightly (CCFS, SCF
8S SCF
25 BCFS (4.1.1). The results showed a significant difference in the color of the samples (p≤0.05).
The data from the Table 3 further showed that the spiciness of sample BCFS received the highest rating (6.98), followed by SCPS (6.32) representing like moderately and like slightly respectively on the hedonic scale. Samples SCF
25S and SCF
8S were liked slightly whereas sample CCFS was the least preferred in terms of spiciness (Table 3). There was no statistically significant difference in spiciness between sample SCF
8S and SCF
25S and between sample SCPS and BCFS (p≤0.05). The results from this study differed from those reported by
(Opoku et al., 2022), who reported a mean of 3.11 for the spiciness of Oyster mushroom black hot pepper sauce “Shito”, which represented neither spicy nor not spicy.
Finally, the overall acceptability of the samples from Table 3 revealed that sample BCFS was the most preferred product with a rating of 7.46 representing preferred very much on the hedonic scale. This was followed by sample SCPS (6.72). Sample SCFS was the least preferred product among all the samples (4.70). The results of this study were similar to the work done by
(Park et al., 2019) who reported the overall liking of Kimchi in a range between 6 and 7.
Pearson correlation of the sensory attributes was conducted to determine the relationship between the attributes and the overall acceptance of the product. The data from Table 4 reveals that all the sensory attributes (taste, aroma, color and spiciness) had a very high positive correlation and was statistically significant (Taste: r = .977, p<0.004; aroma: r = .978, p<0.004; color: r = .986, p<0.002; spiciness: r = .982, p<0.003). This shows that an increase in rating of any of the sensory attributes will lead to higher overall acceptance of the samples.
Implication to research and practice
This study’s findings offer actionable strategies that can be deployed in the use of cowpeas for the production of edible vegetarian sauce in the restaurant industry.
