The aims of this study were to determine the viability of using freeze-thaw infusion (FI) technology to produce a range of root vegetables using enzyme treatments with improved texture characteristics for elderly consumers with swallowing difficulties. We applied enzyme impregnation as a technology to soften the textures of root vegetables commonly consumed in Korea; balloon flower root (Platycodon grandiflorus), burdock root (Arctium lappa L.), carrot (Daucus carota L.), and lotus root (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn) through the use of a texture analyzer after the FI of a commercial enzyme. Out of 15 commercial enzymes that were analyzed, three enzymes exhibited a marked softening effect on the tested carrots, burdock roots, balloon flower roots, and lotus roots. The hardness of the enzymes-treated food materials reached 1.4 × 10 N/m for carrots, 3.0 × 10 N/m for burdock roots, of 3.0 × 10 N/m for balloon flower roots, and 3.2 × 10 N/m for lotus roots without changing the original shapes of the samples. These findings confirmed the potential benefits of softening carrots, lotus roots burdock roots, and balloon flower roots and will contribute to the development of foods that can be easily eaten as part of a balanced diet by elderly adults with eating difficulties.
This study aimed to develop texture-modified Dongchimi (TMD) that is safe, well-shaped, and easy to chew and swallow. As the fermentation proceeded, the pH decreased, and the total acidity and total number of lactic acid bacteria increased. The hardness of the TMD decreased significantly by more than 96% (p \ 0.05) as compared to that of the control. Significant differences in the hardness and shape were observed between two TMD samples-TMD 1 and TMD 2. Sensory evaluation showed that TMD 1 and TMD 2 were adequate for the elderly people suffering from difficulties in mastication and deglutition. Compared to TMD 1, TMD 2 showed higher values of hardness and swallowness and was more preferred by the elderly. Thus, TMD that is easy to chew and swallow has sufficient competitiveness in food safety, food taste, and food preference.
In this study, one of the hydrophobic vitamins, retinol was successfully encapsulated into zein chitosan nanoparticles. EF‐TEM study revealed the spherical shape with smooth surface of nanoparticles. The particle size of retinol‐loaded zein nanoparticles without chitosan coating was around 6 nm; however, particle size increased to around 400 nm after coating with chitosan. The encapsulation efficiencies slightly increased from 66.2% to 72.8% as zein concentration increased. The kinetic release profile of retinol from nanoparticles can be described as a two‐step biphasic process, i.e., an initial burst effect followed by subsequent slower release. These results show that processing parameters, such as concentration of zein and chitosan, molecular weight of chitosan, and zein/chitosan weight ratios, and so on, could be important factors to affect the properties of zein‐chitosan nanoparticles.
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