Asian Food Science Journal

Aims: To assessing the effect of boiling and fermentation on Proximate, mineral, dietary fibre and phytochemical compositions of the raw and processed Lentinus squarrosulus mushroom.

Study Design: The mushroom was cultivated, processed into boiled and fermented flour and then analysed.

Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Food Science and Technology, the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State and Department of Food Technology, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, between February 2020 and March 2022.

Methodology: Lentinus squarrosulus spawn was obtained and grown into edible mushroom. The mushroom was divided into three, two portions were processed into boiled and fermented mushroom and the third one was used as control. The three samples were analysed for proximate, mineral, dietary fibre and phytochemical compositions.

Results: The proximate composition revealed that moisture content ranged between 10.78-11.66%, ash 5.58-6.11%, fat 3.93-5.10%, crude fibre 6.79-7.29%, protein 16.88-20.53%, carbohydrate 51.24-53.88% and the energy value 321.41-330.15 kcal/100 g. Fermentation helped to improve the protein content of the sample. Mineral composition revealed that the samples were significantly different (p<0.05). Fermented sample had higher value in sodium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron, boiled sample was high in calcium and selenium while raw mushroom was high in manganese and zinc. Boiled sample has the least soluble fibre but high in insoluble fibre, this may be as a result of the soluble fibre being dissolved in water during boiling, but fermentation improved the soluble fibre content. The phytochemical composition revealed that fermentation improved the saponin and cardiac glycoside, boiling improved the terpenoid and cardiac glycoside while phlobatannin was only present in a small quantity in raw sample.

Conclusion: Fermentation and boiling process helped to improve some nutrients in the processed mushroom flour and they can be used as food supplements.       

Edible mushrooms consumed in Benin include a diversity of species including oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus). This Oyster mushroom production is increasing in the South of the country. The study aims to evaluate their techno-functional, nutritional and sensory properties in order to optimize their exploitation in food technology and gastronomy. Therefore, 900g of Pleurotus ostreatus were produced on Oil Palm By- Products and divided into three lots of 300g for the study. Lot 1 was used to evaluate the techno-functional and nutritional parameters of fresh mushrooms. Lot 2 was brined while lot 3 was dried. Samples from all three lots were collected and used to study the variability in sensory quality by treatment. The study shows that Pleurotus ostreatus mushrooms produced in Benin have several technological-functional and nutritional benefits that can be used for food security. The luminance values (L*), red index (a*) and yellow index (b*) for fresh oyster mushrooms were respectively 74.6, 2.78 and 26.35. The hue value and the chroma value of the raw mushrooms were respectively of 5.98 and 26.49. The pH of fresh oyster mushrooms was 6.35. The water holding capacity was 11.85% and the technological yield was 88.15%. Nutritionally, the dry matter, fat, ash and protein content of the Pleurotus ostreatus were 9.8%, 2.6%, 6.7%, and 14.78% respectively. About sensorial quality, fresh and brined mushrooms were better appreciated than dried mushrooms. Overall, Pleurotus ostreatus mushrooms produced in palm residues have several techno-functional and nutritional assets and may be promoted for food and nutritional security.

Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate the reusability of edible oils and to find which temperature the refined oils could be used for cooking purposes.

Study Design:  The study followed a completely randomized design (CRD).

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at the Department of Agro Product Processing Technology and its corresponding laboratory on Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, Bangladesh. The study took three consecutive months to complete the study.

Methodology: The study adopted several methods to refine the burnt cooking oils and analyze their physicochemical as well as cooking qualities. At first, the heat was applied to commercially purchased palm, soybean, and rice bran oil. Produced burnt oil was refined using a base and hexane mixture. After that, these refined oils were repeatedly heated for 15, 30 and 60 minutes and physicochemical quality like peroxide value (PV), saponification number (SN), acid value (AV), etc were analyzed for each oil sample at each time interval. Furthermore, cooking quality of the refined oils was determined by frying sausages using each oil and the flavor, color, texture and overall acceptability were determined using hedonic scale.

Results: The study found that the refining rate of each oil was at the peak when the base -to-hexane ratio was 9:1. An increasing trend was observed in the case of the peroxide value of the refined oils during repeated heating. This trend was most predominant in case of palm oil. In palm oil sample, PV of palm oil increased from 4.950±0.6 to 14.432±0.86 meqo₂/kg oil at the third time of heating. The other two sample oils also crossed the standard PV of the respective oil at the third time of heating. It means all the refined oil can be used for a maximum of three times. Acid value of the oils also showed the same trend of increasing with an increase in temperature. In the case of SN, palm oil showed a higher degree of saturation with increased heating time among the refined oils. The flavor, color, texture, and overall acceptability of the sausages fried in these three showed significant differences at p<0.05. This is an indicator that burnt cooking oil that was refined can be reused in cooking.   

Conclusion: Due to the increasing price of edible oils and limited resources, they can be refined from their burnt stage and reused for cooking. Therefore, refining can be a good method to solving edible oil scarcity.

Aim: Medicinal plants and their extracts represent a rich source of crude medications that possess therapeutic properties. Physico-chemical properties of two different rice varieties (Jandhan and Sugapankhi) of North India collected from Uttar Pradesh and a starter culture cake collected from Arunachal Pradesh used in the process of rice beer preparation were analyzed. This study evaluates the development of rice beer from Oryza sativa and physico-chemical analysis of developed rice beer.

Study Design: The present study was conducted in 3 phases-

1. Collection of raw materials
2. Production of rice beer
3. Physico-chemical analysis of developed rice beer

Place and Duration of the Study: The present study was conducted in the Department of Food and Nutrition of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow. The duration of the study is 3 months i.e. from Jan, 2023 - March, 2023.

Methodology: Rice beer was developed in the laboratory under optimum conditions through fermentation followed by filtration and distillation. Collection of the raw materials was done from the local markets of North India and North-east, India. In the present study we have compared physico-chemical properties between two rice varieties i.e. Jandhan and Sugapankhi.

Results: Various physico-chemical parameters (pH, TSS, total acidity, volatile acidity, turbidity, and alcohol content) of rice beer were determined. The pH decreased with storage time, and acidic pH was noted for the beer in ambient storage. An increase with time in the total acidity, volatile acidity, and alcohol % of rice beer was observed. The final recorded alcohol % value of rice beer was in the range of 8-10%. The alcohol content increased throughout the storage. Statistical analysis was performed for comparison between the two samples of rice. Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated from the starter culture cake was found to be the major organism responsible for rice beer fermentation.

Conclusion: The preparation of rice beer needs scientific input for increasing its shelf-life and value addition for its marketing and improving its shelf-life for better quality and acceptability.