Kithul (Caryota Urens) palm is a useful tree in Sri Lanka being the sap is used as an ingredient for a large number of foods. Kithul flour also will be a good ingredient having considerable gelling property. The objectives of this study were to analyze the granular morphology of Kithul flour and study differences among flour samples from five main Kithul growing areas. Flour samples were collected from both household and commercial markets representing five main Kithul growing districts: Rathnapura, Kegalle, Kandy, Matale and Kurunegala. Microscopic measurement of starch granules was done using light microscope under the magnification power of 400 x with Magnus live USB 2.0 viewer and Image tool for windows softwar). Flour treatments did not differ with respect to granular morphology with mean length and width of starch granule being 45.5 μm, 26.4 μm, respectively. This study showed different shapes of Kithul starch granules such as spherical, oval, and irregular globular with oval shape being the most common shape (51.4% of total granules). Analyzed results revealed that there were no significant differences among Kithul flour samples obtained from five main growing districts with respect to granular morphology which could be a positive point for using composite Kithul flour from different growing areas for future food applications.
Kithul (Caryota urens) flour has better gel-forming ability among other flour in the food industry. This study aimed to utilization of Kithul flour as substitute to existing plant origin gelling agent for food applications of vegetarians .Fruit based desserts can be produced using Kithul flour as the gelatinizing agent. This wood apple based dessert is the best example for that. The selected best sample with 1:1.5 flour: fruit pulp ratio, gave acceptable results as SLS standards 586:1982 and SLS standards 729:1985 for the tests done (sensory evaluation, Microbial analysis, pH and brixº). According to the shelf life studies the product with added preservatives can be kept at room temperature for 2 months in acceptable condition (sensory and microbiologically) . According to the proximate analysis energy generation from 100g of the product is 262.28 Kcal. Compared to fruit jellies which prepared by pectin as plant-based gelling agent, Kithul dessert has more nutrients, and considerable amount of minerals with less carbohydrate and low calorie. This is a cost effective product which can earn considerable profit by marketing as a nutritious dessert by combination of high swelling flour with seasonal fruit.
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