Studies on Reduction in Viscosity of Thick Rice Gruels with small Quantities of an Amylase-Rich Cereal Malt

Pre-treatment effect on the nutritional and functional properties of selected cassava-based composite flours

“…However, there was a significant increase in the total sugar content, when pre-gelatinized malted cassava flour (T1p-T6p) was used, supporting the fact that the thermostable alpha-amylase in the malted flour may be getting activated during steam cooking and contributing to partial starch hydrolysis before the enzyme inactivation due to long exposure time. Malting has been reported as a means of reducing the bulk of weaning foods (Gopaldas, Mehta, Patil, & Gandhi, 1986;Mosha & Svanberg, 1990). Reduction in the dietary bulk of wheat gruels using amylaserich wheat has been reported by John and Gopaldas (1988).…”

“…As high as 95% viscosity reduction could be achieved through addition of the malted flour, facilitating its better functionality for weaning food preparation Malting of sorghum was attempted for bulk reduction of weaning foods by Mosha and Svanberg (1990). Gopaldas et al (1986) observed that takadiastase added to rice flour could reduce the viscosity of 10% rice gruel by around 98% as compared to only 89% using germinated bajra (Pennisetum typhoideum) for viscosity reduction of rice gruel. Our studies also showed that termamyl (commercial alpha-amylase) was a better source for malting of cassava flour, when compared with gram amylase, probably due to the higher enzyme potency in the former.…”

Maternal Preferences for Consistency of Complementary Foods in Guatemala

“…A few studies have some anecdotal information on maternal preferences [10,11,13] but it is difficult to draw conclusions about maternal preferences on the basis of these studies. For example, the terms used to describe various consistencies of complementary foods (e.g., thick, thin, or smooth) are often ambiguous and poorly defined, and often no measurements of viscosity are given.…”

“…It is commonly suggested that foods of higher viscosity are less acceptable to the mother or to the child [9][10][11][12], although no published studies could be identified that specifically attempted to quantify this perception. The inadequacy of the information in this area is particularly striking, because a great deal of effort has already been invested in strategies to reduce the viscosity of complementary foods of high nutrient density, most commonly with the use of amylase-rich flours [5,9,[13][14][15][16].…”

Centrally processed weaning foods for use in developing countries

“…The ARF prepared from the local cereal bajra was malted by steeping and germinating 72 h in moist muslin (78). After drying, the malted grain was roasted 5 min in an open pan until a brown color was obtained.…”