The effects of five different drying methods: convective drying, vacuum drying, freeze‐drying, infrared‐radiation drying, and sun‐drying on various characteristic properties of murta berries from southern Chile were evaluated. The drying methods were found to have significantly different effects on the characteristics of the dried berries. Freeze‐drying process caused the least damage to the bioactive components. Over 50% loss of free total flavonoids occurred during infrared‐radiation drying, while freeze‐drying hardly affected total flavonoids in both free and bound forms. The freeze‐dried samples had the highest rehydration rate and water‐holding‐capacity, significantly different to samples of the other drying methods. Hardness was only reduced by freeze‐drying. Microstructure of the freeze‐dried samples showed similarity with that of the unprocessed berries, while noticeable cell wall collapse occurred during the other drying processes. The results obtained could be helpful in deciding for the most appropriate drying method for a desired quality of the dried murta berries. Practical Application Drying process causes in murta berries visible physical changes that are not sufficient to evaluate quality. Nutritional aspects and biological activity that are important criteria in judging suitability of the dried murta berries as a starting raw material for developing functional foods are known to be affected by drying conditions. Therefore in this study, classic drying methods that involve a wide range of drying conditions were performed to analyse their effects on characteristic properties of dried murta berries. The data recollected are useful in the design of a drying process that best retain or even strengthen the original nutritional quality and bioactivity of the processed berries.
The effect of chili pepper leaves (CPL) on the sensory characteristics, microbial load, consumer acceptability, and nutritional quality of salt bread was evaluated. Crushed and powdered CPLs were used in salt bread at different substitution levels: 0 (control), 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4% (wt/wt flour). All sensory attributes of salt breads with 0.5% crushed CPL (CCPL) or powdered CPL (PCPL) were comparable with the control. The consumer acceptability for 0.5% CCPL and PCPL were 97 and 93%, respectively. The use of 0.5% CPL in salt bread boosted the β-carotene content from <1 µg/100 g to up to 238 µg/100 g and significantly increased the folate and iron levels. Water activity values were comparable with the control and microbial counts of the enriched products were within acceptable limits. Results showed that CPL can be incorporated in salt bread as a means to improve iron, vitamin A, and folate nutrition in areas where micronutrient malnutrition is prevalent.Keywords: β-carotene, bread, chili pepper leaves, folate, iron, sensory evaluation IntroductionIron, vitamin A, and folate are among the micronutrients deficient in the diet of many people in developing countries. In the Philippines, iron and vitamin A deficiencies remain as public health problems (FNRI, 2013) among children and women (pregnant and lactating). Folate deficiency, which is associated with birth defects, colorectal cancer, and lifelong physical and intellectual disabilities, is also an emerging concern (deVogel et al., 2008;Fujimori et al., 2011). Green leafy vegetables are very rich in essential micronutrients such as vitamin A (in the form of β-carotene), folate, and iron (Ng et al., 2012;Gupta and Prakash, 2011). shown to effectively enhance its nutrient profile (ii, iv, vi).The use of chili pepper leaves as an inexpensive ingredient to boost the nutritional quality of salt bread was therefore investigated. The effects of crushed and powdered form of chili pepper leaves on the salt bread in terms of quality, sensory characteristics, and consumer acceptability were assessed. The samples were cooled and packed in polyethylene bags and kept at ambient temperature until analyzed. Materials and Methods Sample collection Screening of best formulationThe best formulation was determined using laboratory panel consisting of 14 staff from Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) as evaluators. Prior to the actual evaluation, product lexicon was developed, wherein sensory attributes for salt bread were identified and agreed upon by the same set of panelists (Meilgaard et al., 2007). Salt bread was randomly selected and coded with three-digit random numbers.One whole piece (60 _ 64 mm width x 34 _ 40 mm height) of coded salt bread of each treatment was presented to each sensory panelist one at a time. The attributes evaluated by the panelists were green color, aroma and taste (0=none; 15=very intense), surface texture appearance (0=smooth; 15=very rough), after-taste (0=none; 15= very perceptible), mouthfeel/texture (0=smooth; 15=very grainy), denseness ...
Rice wine lees is a major by-product generated in the Philippine rice wine or tapuy production. Flour was developed using tapuy lees and used as a functional ingredient in polvoron. Preparation of flour involved washing of the pressed lees, filtration, sterilization, drying and grinding to a fine powder. The water activity of the sample was <0.400 and microbial loads were within acceptable limits, with 2.30 × 10 4 cfu/g total plate count and 2.50 cfu/g mold count. The flour had high crude protein (45.03 ± 0.14%) and dietary fiber (13.10 ± 0.08%) levels. When used in polvoron, up to 50% (w/w) of lees can be substituted to all-purpose flour with minimal effect on quality. Using 33% lees, significant improvement in crude protein content was noted, without adversely affecting the taste and overall sensory quality of the product. Results demonstrated the feasibility of producing a functional food ingredient using a major by-product of tapuy production. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSLees is a nutritious, but underutilized, by-product of rice wine manufacture. In tapuy production, a large volume of lees (about 27% of the weight of raw rice) is generated and is merely discarded. The use of lees in the development of valueadded food products will be a step toward making nutrient-dense foods available to consumers, while addressing waste management problem from rice wine production. Results of this study would provide manufacturers of rice wine a valuable resource to make their process more efficient and productive. This will also serve as a basis to further explore the nutritional quality of rice wine lees and its potential applications in other food products.
Complementary food is important in the first two years of an infant’s life for optimum growth and development. In the Philippines, especially in areas without access to adequate food sources, infants are fed with complementary foods of low nutrient density. To improve the nutrition in areas where malnutrition among 0–2-yr-old children is highly prevalent, this study developed a plant-based complementary food premix from rice, soybean, and yellow sweet potato for infants aged 6–23 mo. Ten (10) complementary food premixes were formulated and optimized using D-optimal mixture design. Results showed that different proportions of flour blends had significant (p < 0.05) effects on protein, ash, fat, carbohydrates, water absorption index, swelling power, and consistency. The optimized complementary food formulation was with the ratio of 50% rice, 35% soybean, and 15% yellow sweet potato flours. A 100-g serving of the complementary food provides 408.77 kcal and 15.68 g of protein.
To provide data on the potential of local plant foods as sources of phytochemicals for human health, this study evaluated the phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of locally cultivated vegetables, both in raw form and in a form that they are usually consumed. Hydrophilic extracts of raw and boiled forms of 47 locally cultivated vegetables were evaluated for their total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant capacities using the 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)-diammonium salt (ABTS) assays. Results showed that the TPC of raw vegetables ranged 1.0–79.6 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) g–1, with the following vegetables having the highest values among the lot: turmeric > red coral lettuce > sweet potato tops ≥ chili leaves > jute > water spinach 1 > green eggplant > purple eggplant. Antioxidant capacities of raw samples determined by DPPH and ABTS assays ranged 0.6–380.6 µmol Trolox equivalents (TE) g–1 and 1.4-322.7 µmol TE g–1, respectively, with the following plants consistently displaying the strongest scavenging values among the lot: turmeric, red coral lettuce, sweet potato tops, jute, chili leaves, lowland water spinach, and purple eggplant. Boiling plant foods had variable effects depending on the material studied. The TPC and antioxidant capacities of the fruit samples eggplant, green pepper, and squash significantly increased (p < 0.05) after boiling, while those of chili leaves and squash flower decreased. Boiling generally reduced the antioxidant capacities but turmeric, lowland water spinach, and chili leaves consistently exhibited the highest TPC and antioxidant capacities in either form among the tested samples. Our findings signify that local vegetables may be sources of phenolics and other hydrophilic compounds with antioxidant properties.
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