Pasta is a widely consumed food in all over the world. Coarse semolina obtained from durum wheat and water are the main ingredients of conventional pasta products. The amount of gluten and quality level of durum wheat, are two important factors for the superiority of finished pasta. Market price of durum wheat is higher than the common wheat and it contributes no more than 5% of the world wheat production. Thus, to come across the challenge of emerging pasta consumption, new field of research that is dealing with the incorporation of nonconventional ingredients to the conventional formula of pasta has initiated. The compositions of raw materials which are used for pasta preparation directly affect the physical, chemical, and textural properties of the product. Therefore, incorporation of nonconventional ingredients can lead to a contradictory effect of pasta quality. This review will focus on the various types of nonconventional ingredients that are being incorporated in pasta products and their effect on the quality attributes of different pasta products.

Fast foods have gained popularity in Sri Lanka, especially among the youths and people who have busy lifestyles. University students who stay most of the time away from home tend to consider convenience, availability and style of eating as important factors in fulfilling their food and energy requirement. This situation may lead to have an imbalance in their nutrient status and to increase the risk of diet related non communicable diseases (NCDs). This study identified the factors influencing fast food consumption among students in one of the state universities of Sri Lanka. Moreover, the nutrient compositions of mostly consumed fast foods were analyzed and the current health status of the students was identified. The research was conducted with both online and offline using a questionnaire for which two hundred and five students responded. Around 54% of the students consumed fast foods more than once a day. Price and taste were the major attributes that determined the selection of fast food. No differences were found between attitude towards fast food consumption and gender, frequency of fast food consumption and nutritional status and body mass index (BMI) and gender. Majority (70%) of the students in the faculty were healthy and having a normal BMI (20-21 kg/m 2 ). Approximately, one quarter (26%) of females were underweight and only 65% of them were normal and healthy. Of the female respondents, 7% were overweight and 2% were obese. Among the male students, 79% were healthy with normal BMI. However, as 12% were overweight, there is a higher risk

Fish mince based convenient products have become much popular among consumers. Therefore, incorporating fish mince with nonmeat protein becomes an important production approach for reducing the cost and improving the nutritional, physical and sensory properties of the product. Hence the present study was focused on producing a Tilapia fish nugget with different legume flour i.e. lentil, chickpea and cowpea as an extender and masking the unpleasant sensory attributes of Tilapia fish due to its muddy flavor. Fish nuggets were prepared by using different composition of Tilapia fish mince (85, 75, 70, 65%), legume flour extender (0, 10, 15, 20%) and spice mixture (15%). Fish nuggets that were prepared by replacing 15% of Tilapia fish mince with legume flour were selected as the best out of all types of extenders. Accordingly, the prepared fish nuggets were kept in frozen storage (-18°C) and evaluated for proximate composition, cooking yield, shrinkage percentage, moisture retention, water holding capacity, pH, total plate count, free fatty acid value, peroxide value and total volatile based nitrogen for 3 months period. Results showed that the incorporation of legume flour significantly increased the protein content (20.28%) of nuggets compared to the control sample without legume flour (14.72%). Cowpea flour added fish nuggets revealed the highest cooking yield (78.89%), high moisture retention ability (34.15%), low diameter shrinkage (6.42%), good textural properties and same quality was observed even after 3 months of storage at-18 o C without addition of preservatives.

Cassava flour has a high potential to contribute as a raw material in the food industry. This study was aimed at characterizing flours from Sri Lankan cassava varieties with a view to explore the potential in food applications. Flours prepared from five cassava varieties, namely, Kirikawadi, MU51, Swarna, Shani, and Suranimala, were analyzed for proximate composition and physicochemical, functional, and antioxidant properties using standard methods. Flours from tested cassava varieties contained <1% crude fat and <2% crude protein. Flour from MU51 contained the highest amount of HCN (48.05 mg/kg) while flour from Suranimala contained the lowest (4.85 mg/kg). Total starch and amylose contents of flours were significantly lower ( p < 0.05 ) than those of commercial wheat flour. Flour from Suranimala contained approximately similar amylopectin content as commercial wheat flour. Water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, water solubility index, swelling power, emulsion activity, and emulsion stability of flours from five cassava varieties were significantly higher ( p < 0.05 ) than those of commercial wheat flour. Swarna was identified as the richest source of phenolic compounds (4.44 mmol GAE/100 g dry weight) among the five varieties. Results showed the promising application potential of flours from these five cassava varieties in different food applications such as weaning foods, bakery foods, and edible films.

Abstract-The study was carried out to evaluate the nutritional properties of five varieties (Willard, Karthakolomban, Malwana, Bettiamba and Gira Amba)

Objective: To develop vacuum dried (VD) Ambarella fruit powder and Ambarella fruit incorporated soup mix from large and miniature Ambarella and investigation of antioxidants and anti-diabetic properties. Methods: Ethanolic extracts of two Ambarella varieties were analyzed for antioxidant potential in terms of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), ferrous reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), radical scavenging activities of DPPH and ABTS and α-amylase inhibitory activity. Results: Fresh dwarf Ambarella showed a significantly (p<0.05) high TPC (3.35±0.10 mgGAE/g) while fresh large Ambarella showed a significantly (p<0.05) high FRAP (0.71±0.13 mgTE/g) and DPPH (3.57±0.31 mg TE/g). In comparison of ethanolic extracts of VD Ambarella powders, a significantly (p<0.05) higher antioxidant potential in terms of FRAP (4.19±0.06 mgTE/g) exhibited in dwarf variety while significantly (p<0.05) higher ABTS (4.03±0.27 mgTE/g) and DPPH (3.00±0.49mgTE/g) exhibited in large Ambarella. Alpha amylase inhibition activities of fresh fruits of large and dwarf were 46.30±4.07% and 49.55±3.18% where as in VD powders were 27.59±5.03% and 15.58±5.86% respectively. An instant soup mixture was developed incorporating 20% of VD powder from large variety due its abundance. The antioxidant potential of ethanolic extract of the soup mixture in terms of TPC, TFC, ABTS, and FRAP were 0.55±0.00 mgGAE/g, 0.04±0.00 mgQE/g, 1.65±0.06 mgTE/g, and 0.04±0.15 mgTE/g. Alpha amylase inhibition activity of soup mixture was 39.49±0.29%. Conclusion: The both types of fresh fruits exhibited higher antioxidant potential except FRAP and higher anti-amylase inhibition than VD Ambarella powder.

Purpose: Sri Lankan traditional sweetmeats occupy a special place in regular consumption, festivities and religious offerings. Sweetmeats are popular food items since ancient times, however, their compositional information are limited. The objective of this study is to provide information on macro-nutrients, energy intake, antioxidant potential and bioactive compounds of selected sweetmeats.Research Method: Twenty-five sweetmeat prepared with standardized recipes were analyzed for major nutrients using standard analytical methods. Methanol (80%, v/v) extracts of these products were evaluated for antioxidant potential (AP) by Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Potential (FRAP), 2,2-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) scavenging activity and 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) radical scavenging assays.Findings: Almost all tested sweetmeats were energy-dense foods. Among the deep-fried foods, Beraliya kevum had the highest fat content 28.23±1.06 %. Kos eta aggala (68.05±1.30%) reported the highest carbohydrate content and Unduwalalu had the highest protein content (8.70±0.33%) among all the sweetmeats. The AP of Hal helapa made of rice flour, finger millet flour and Vateria copallifera was significantly (p<0.05) higher compared to all other sweetmeats; 222.44±5.34 mM TEAC/g dry matter by DPPH assay and 240.28±5.62 mM TEAC/g dry matter by ABTS assay. Stable polyphenolic compounds and Maillard reaction products generated during high temperatures of processing may be contributing to high AP.Originality/ Value: These findings are useful to enhance the consumer awareness in making food choices based on the major nutrients and antioxidant potential. These data can be used to improve the healthrelated parameters of traditional sweetmeats by reformulating with healthy ingredients and meeting the health concerns of consumers.

Food fermentation is one of the oldest food preservation and processing methods that uses live microorganisms and dates back thousands of years in human civilization. From those days, human society has used them without knowing the true value of these live microorganisms. But later, they understood the beneficial health effects of some organisms used in fermentation. Later they were named probiotics. With the advancement of science, the taxonomic and morphological details of probiotic bacteria and fungi were identified. In the early stage of human civilization, probiotics were used only for the preservation of excess food stuff, but now they have been used for many other aspects. Encapsulated probiotics and dried probiotics enhance the benefits of probiotics while reducing the major drawback of survivability in harsh conditions. Genetically engineered probiotics organisms open new avenues in the nutraceutical industry, having maximum benefits to the host. In modern medicine, probiotic functional foods have been used as nutraceuticals for multi-drug resisting organisms and as transport vectors. In the near future, Super probiotic organisms will be the new step in human civilization in terms of food and therapeutic medicine.