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.
Veddas are considered to be the indigenous community of Sri Lanka. A century ago, the Veddas had scattered across the Eastern Province, North-Central and Uva Provinces. Presently, their main settlement is confined to Dambana in the Badulla district. They inherit unique indigenous knowledge from their ancestors to hunt animals, gather forest goods, collect honey and dig yams to fulfill their food needs as ‘Forest dwellers’. Therefore, they had simple and efficient indigenous techniques for gathering and processing food. The main objective of the present study was to identify and document the past indigenous food practices and current food practices of the Dambana Vedda community. Focus group discussions were carried out with the different age categories of the Vedda community at Dambana to collect information. The indigenous lifestyle of the Vedda community was affected by modernization and civilization. Wild Veddas who lived in the forest have transmitted to village Veddas in colonies with modified food culture. Their indigenous food culture is mixed with the neighboring Sinhalese and Tamil communities. However, with forest reserves restricted, the Veddas are still engaging in a questionable struggle to protect their indigenous tradition and culture. Consequently, they have consumed indigenous foods rarely and novel food varieties become the daily diets of Veddas. Therefore, Veddas have been facing many challenges to protect their unique indigenous food practices for future generations.
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