Asian Food Science Journal

Background: Senna didymobotrya grows naturally in East Africa and is commonly used to treat microbial infections by African communities due to the presence of various phytochemicals such as alkaloids, terpenoid, anthraquinones, tannins, saponins, phenols and flavonoids.

Objective:  This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the crude extract of candle brush (Senna didymobotrya) leaves against Aspergillus niger in the reduction of post-harvest losses in tomatoes.

Methods: A completely randomised design with two treatments, each replicated six times was used. In this study. Dried leaves were ground into a fine powder and extracted using the Soxhlet apparatus with 100% methanol. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the extract were determined against Aspergillus niger. The shelf life of tomatoes was determined by spraying the extract reconstituted in water at 0.4 g/ml and further analysed the total viable counts at three-day intervals and checking for the growth of mould, colour changes and odours as indicators of spoilage.

Results: After extraction 22 g of the crude extract was obtained from the dried leaves The MIC and MFC of the methanol crude extract against Aspergillus niger were 0.04 g/ml. The shelf life of the treated tomatoes was 14 days while for the untreated was 9 days. T-test results at (P0.05) showed a significant difference between the treated and untreated samples based on the total viable counts.

Conclusion: The crude extract of the candle brush inhibited the growth of Aspergillus niger in fresh tomatoes and also prolonged the shelf life of tomatoes for 14 days.  Further studies should be done to evaluate the market acceptability of the tomatoes.

Aim: The present research was carried out to characterize and utilize Isabgol, for preparation of dietetic cookies. The production of cookies enriched with Isabgol can be considered as an alternative way to include this health promoter fiber in human nutrition.

Place and Duration of Study: Isabgol, (Psyllium husk) was procured from the local market were collected from the local area of Bareilly region, India. The plant material was identified and authenticated by the Department of Pharmacognosy of Ram Murti Smarak College of Engineering & Technology (Pharmacy), Bareilly, India.

Methodology: Six different formulations of cookies were prepared using varying concentrations of Isabgol. All the preparations were according to the guidelines of AACC (2000). Physical and chemical traits diameter, thickness, moisture content, crude protein, of prepared cookies were evaluated.

Results: Straight grade flour was replaced with Isabgol in different combinations such as 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25%. Regarding the characterization of Isabgol, mean values obtained for moisture, crude protein, crude fat, the crude fiber in husk were 6.43±0.05,  2.08±0.06, 0.09±0.01, and respectively. Moreover, total dietary fiber was found to be 76.63±1.32. Physical characteristics of dietetic cookies i.e. diameter and spread ratio were diminished with the addition of Isabgol while thickness was increased. Results regarding the storage of the cookies showed an increase in diameter and spread ratio whilst thickness depicted a decreasing trend. The chemical assay revealed higher crude protein content in control cookies.

Conclusion: Softer cookies with low gross energy were obtained with the addition of Isabgol. Isabgol based cookies showed gradual enhancement in dietary fiber content as the amount of husk was increased in the formulation. The resultant cookies may have the potential to manage the digestion and bowel function in human subjects.

Aim: The aim was to evaluate the chemical, physical, sensory and microbial qualities of fruit bars produced from blends of banana and cashew apple fruits and to investigate the applicability of cashew apple in fruit bar production.

Study Design: The experimental design used was the complete randomized design (CRD) and the data obtained were analyzed using one – way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Place and duration of Study: The study took place at the Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka between January and July, 2016.

Methodology: Fruit bar samples were prepared with blends of  ripe banana and cashew apple purees in the ratios of 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50: 50% (Banana puree : Cashew apple puree). One hundred percent (100%) banana pulp based fruit bar served as the control. Formulated fruit bars contained 7% sugar, 5% date powder, 0.2% sodium metabisulphite and 0.5% citric acid in 1000 g of fruit purees and dried at 80^oC for 8 hours. Fruit bar samples were analysed for sensory qualities, proximate composition, micronutrient compositions (vitamin C and potassium), physicochemical properties (pH, brix and titratable acidiy), and microbiological quality using standard methods.

Results: There were significant (p<0.05) differences in the proximate composition, potassium, vitamin C and tannin content of samples. The carbohydrate, protein, crude fibre, ash and moisture contents ranged from 68.78 to 74.51%, 3.06 to 3.38%, 1.00 to 2.05%, 2.33 to 2.76% and 18.92 to 22.64% respectively. The fruit bars have high caloric energy values. The vitamin C content increased as the ratio of cashew apple increased. Potassium and tannin contents of the samples ranged from 125.50 to 220.00mg/100g and 52.04 to 84.23 mg/100g respectively. Titratable acidity, pH and brix of samples varied significantly (p < 0.05) and ranged from 0.23 to 0.37%, 4.00 to 4.65% and 7.10 to 11.85% respectively. The microbial results showed that total viable count found present in the fruit bar samples ranged from 4.0 x 10² to 1.3 x 10³ while the mould count ranged from 2.0 x 10¹ to 7.0 x 10¹. The sensory scores showed that all samples were generally accepted while the sample with 20% of cashew apple was the most preferred. These results showed that underutilized fruits such as cashew apple can be utilized in this regard instead of being wasted.

Physical properties of three varieties of mango were studied at 13.75% and 8.74% moisture content levels. Some selected properties such as geometric mean, arithmetic mean, angle of repose, sphericity and crushing force were determined. The average tri-axial dimensions of the seeds gave 38.00 ± 6.8, 42.23 ± 4.12, 33.95 ± 6.91 as average major diameter; 35.60 ± 5.68, 39.18 ± 3.95, 31.44 ± 7.56 as average intermediate diameter and 24.76 ± 5.2, 28.42 ± 5.59, 23.08 ± 3.67 as average minor diameter for Kerosene, Sheri and Sugar mango respectively. The average sphericity of the three varieties of mango seed was 0.74, 0.77 and 0.67 while that of the angle of repose was 40.430, 08.030 and 09.760 for Kerosene, Sheri and Sugar mango respectively. The average crushing force determined using the universal testing machine gave 21.00 N, 10.58 N and 9.46 N for Kerosene, Sheri and Sugar mango respectively. Statistical analysis shows that there is a significant difference in the geometric mean between Kerosene mango and Sheri mango and no significant difference between Sheri mango and Sugar mango, while the average value of the calculated arithmetic mean was found to be statistically different within the three varieties but no significant difference in sphericity. Kerosene mango has the highest value for the angle of repose and crushing force.

Background: Food consumption has been changing during the past decade and need for instant formulation is being increased. The potential of growth of convenience foods in Kenya is vastly untapped.

Objective: This study was to develop a dehydrated instant ox tail soup mix supplemented with mushroom and Moringa leaves and other vegetables to enhance its protein quality and reduce the difficulty in preparation of the soup inorder to minimize the problem of protein-energy malnutrition in Kenya.

Methods: After destalking, washing was done. The whole leaves were boiled with 0.1% (v/v) sodium metabi-sulphite for 10 minutes.. The leaves were then spread out on the racks for 15 min. The leaves were then spread thinly on mesh and allowed to dry in the oven dryer for four 4 hours. The dried leaves were ground into powder and packaged in a plastic container and stored at room temperature. Fresh oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostearus (Jacq.) P. Kumm. were cleaned, chopped into small pieces of about 5-7 mm thickness, then pretreated by blanching in water at 60ºC for about 2 minutes, cooked and dried to a moisture content of 5-7%, then dried, sieved and stored in airtight containers. The oxtail was cut into small pieces and soaked in vinegar for 10 minutes this is because vinegar tends to kill salmonella, E coli and other gram-negative bacteria. It was then taken to an oven to dry it further at 70ºC for 48 hours, then ground and packed in airtight container at room temperatures. Tomatoes were cut into slices, cooked, cooled, and the pulp was dried in an oven drier for 3 hours at 60ºC. The dried pulp was ground and packaged in airtight glass containers. Proximate analysis was done according to AOAC methods (2005).

Results: Proximate analysis were as follows: Oyster mushroom powder the fat, ash, protein, , moisture and total carbohydrates were as follows 2.5%, 8.1%, 31.5% 3, 73%  and 40.8% respectively on dry weight basis. In the case of Moringa powder the fat, ash, protein, and total carbohydrate results were as follows: 6.3%, 9.5%, 33.4%, and 57.63%.

Ox tail powder the results were as follows fat was 14.6%, ash 5.1%, protein 23.7%, total carbohydrates 36.2% and moisture content 4.72%.

Conclusion: Instant oxtail soup supplemented with mushroom and Moringa Leaves can be developed using Oyster mushroom.