Effect of Biscuit Baking Conditions on the Stability of Microencapsulated 5-Methyltetrahydrofolic Acid and Their Physical Properties

Abstract

Among the folate compounds, 5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid (5-CH 3 THF) is regarded as one of the most bioactive forms of folate. It is regarded as the better source of folate to humans as compared to folic acid, a synthetic form of folate, which is used for fortifying foods to prevent the incidence of neural tube defects in the new born babies. The use of 5-CH 3 THF as an alternative fortificant, in place of folic acid, has been explored by various researchers. However, fortification of 5-CH 3 THF is problematic due to its lower stability. This study investigated the stability of microencapsulated 5-CH 3 THF in biscuits baked at various temperatures and times as well as changes in their physical properties. Microcapsule with pectin and alginate ratio of 80:20, prepared by spray drying, gave the highest retention (68.6%) of the 5-CH 3 THF, therefore, chosen for fortification. The encapsulated and unencapsulated 5-CH 3 THF were mixed separately with flour and biscuit ingredients and baked at 180˚C, 200˚C and 220˚C, each for 5, 9 and 12 min. The inclusion of encapsulated and unencapsulated 5-CH 3 THF in the biscuit formulation and subsequent baking at various temperatures and times resulted in retention of 5-CH 3 THF from 19.1% to 1.7%. Microencapsulation of 5-CH 3 THF slightly improved the retention of 5-CH 3 THF over unencapsuated biscuits at 180˚C for 5 min, but almost no such effect was achieved under baking temperatures of 200˚C and 220˚C. Physical analysis showed darker colour, harder texture and lower moisture content for biscuits baked at higher test temperatures. It seems intense heating condition that caused "over baking" of the biscuit likely to be responsible for the loss of the vitamin as well as less desirable physical properties of the biscuits.

Standardization of formulation and processing conditions for development of nutritional carabeef cookies

“…baking temperature as compared to chicken biscuits baked at a lower temperature. Shrestha et al (2012) also observed increased hardness and breaking time of 5-methyltetrahydro folic acid microencapsulated biscuits baked at Ͼ200°C than biscuits baked at 170-180°C for longer time due to carbonization and entrapment of moisture in matrix. They also suggested that with an increase in time and temperature, further development of gluten matrix as well as starch gelatinization and retrogradation occurred, which hampered the release of moisture due to sealing of crust and plasticization of proteins and starch.…”

“…This is in agreement with Lara et al (2011) that showed an increase in oven temperature decreases the lightness of biscuit, independent of heat transfer mode of the oven temperature to the product (Ͼ190°C). Shrestha et al (2012) also observed golden brown color of optimally baked biscuits at 180°C, but at a higher temperature (200-220°C), the golden brown color of biscuits turned to intense red and dark resulting into higher redness and hue angle values.…”

Development of low phenylalanine flour for phenylketonuric patient

“…Moisture content of corn starch added biscuits was more (5.3%) compared to wheat flour added biscuits. Low moisture content in biscuits could result in brittleness (Shrestha, Arcot, Dhital, & Crennan, 2012). It has been widely reported that nonuniform distribution of moisture in the biscuit during baking and drying affect the texture formation and hardness (Ahmed & Hussein, 2014).…”

“…The weight of the corn biscuits was found to be higher than the wheat flour added biscuits. This may have slight bearing on the quality of biscuits as the low density gives more volume and a lighter bite (Davidson, 2017). The spread ratio of corn biscuit and wheat flour added biscuit was found to be 3.28 g/mm and 3.13 g/mm, respectively (Table 5).…”

Microencapsulation can be a novel tool in wheat flour with micronutrients fortification: current trends and future applications - a review

“…The retention of folic acid content in the biscuits fortified with the encapsulated 5-CH3THF was high (19.1 ± 3.0, 8.5 ± 1.1, 4.9 ± 0.5 at 180, 200, and 220°C, respectively) compared to that in the biscuits fortified with the unencapsulated 5-CH3THF (5. 4 ± 0.4, 6.7 ± 1.0, 4.4 ± 0.6 at 180, 200, and 220°C, respectively) (Shrestha et al 2012). Tomiuk et al (2012) prepared l-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid (L-5-MTHF) microcapsules using skim milk as the encapsulating agent for the fortification of bread to increase its bioavailability.…”