Asian Food Science Journal

The study aimed at establishing the effect of hormone and ripening agent on mass transfer as well as to find the effect of solution type and fruit to solution ratio for mass transfer of pineapple. Two types of pineapple, organic pineapple and GRM pineapple (pineapple cultivated with growth regulator and medicine) were collected and sliced into 8mm thickness. The slices were immersed in 60% sugar, 55/5% sugar-salt mixture solution for different periods of time at three different fruit to solution ratio (1:6, 1:8 and 1:10) and mass transfer coefficient were determined from the data. Results indicated that for organic pineapple mass transfer coefficient was higher than GRM pineapple (0.1583/min^1/2 vs. 0.1502/min^1/2). Again, for 55/5% sugar-salt mixture solution, mass transfer coefficient was higher than 60% sugar solution. Maximum rate of mass transfer (0.2281/min^1/2) was determined at 1:6 fruit to solution ratio and minimum (0.1504/min^1/2) was at 1:10 fruit to solution ratio for GRM pineapple.

This study investigates the effect of white and black Piper nigrum and Piper guineense on lipids quality of oil extracted from groundnuts pudding. This work was carried in the Research Unit of Biochemistry, Medicinal plants, Food Sciences, and Nutrition, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Cameroon, between January 2018 and December 2019. The antioxidant activity of these spices was determined. Cooking by steaming of groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea) pudding was carried out using groundnuts paste with 0 g, 0.5 g, 1 g, 2 g and 4 g of spices and 30 ml of warm water respectively. Oils were extracted from the prepared groundnuts pudding using a mixture of chloroform and methanol. The lipid quality of oil samples was studied by the determination of the peroxide, P-anisidine, total oxidation, thiobarbituric and iodine values. Results revealed that these spices possess non negligible antioxidant properties. Black Piper nigrum (BPN) presented the highest total phenolic (TPC: 85.00 mg GAE/g) and flavonoids (FC: 271.94 mg CE/g) contents. The lowest TPC and FC was observed with the aqueous extract white Piper nigrum (WPN: 52.38 mg GAE/g and 113.32 mg CE/g respectively). The use of these spices in groundnuts pudding preparation contributed to limit the formation of primary and secondary oxidation products of groundnuts pudding oil. It was also observed that white Piper nigrum (WPN) better preserve lipids quality of oils at all concentrations because oil extracted from pudding cooked with 0.5 g, 1 g, 2 g and 4 g presented peroxide values lower than 10 meqO₂/kg (2.81 meqO₂/kg, 2.99 meqO₂/kg, 3.28 meqO₂/kg and 5.46 meqO₂/kg respectively). In summary these spices especially white Piper nigrum can be used to preserve lipids oxidation during cooking by steaming of groundnuts pudding.

This research was conducted to assess the drying kinetics and product quality during osmotic dehydration and air drying of coconut cuts. The coconuts were osmotically pretreated by different concentration of sugar solution (40 °Brix, 50 °Brix, and 60 °Brix) and temperature of osmotic solution (35°C, 45°C and 55°C) were maintained. The proportion of fruit to solution was maintained 1:4 (w/v) and pretreatment process length was 3 hours. Higher osmotic solution temperature at 55°C with low concentration 40 °Brix resulted in a huge reduction of antioxidant activity, vitamin C, polyphenol, and color contents while higher osmotic solution concentration at 50 °Brix with lower temperature 35°C held more. The present investigation likewise exhibited that moisture loss and solute gain rate extended with the increasing of osmotic solution temperature and concentration. The outcomes demonstrated that drying regime was typically in the falling rate period. We used regression analysis to the experimental drying data to fit three thin layer drying models. The most appropriate model(s) was selected using correlation coefficient (R²) and root mean square error (RMSE). The page model showed a better fit of the experimental drying data (as compared to other models) on the basis that R²> 0.9997 and RMSE < 0.0011. These data represent a good contribution to further investigation on the mass transfer kinetics and also demonstrated that fruits could be preserved with higher nutrient applying osmotic dehydration technique.

The purpose of this study was to produce cookies from wheat, almond and carrot flour blend, evaluate the vitamin content and storage parameters. Wheat, almond and carrot flour were blended in the ratio: 100:0:0, 90:10:0, 90:0:10, 80:15:5, 70:20:10 and were labeled A, B, C, D and E respectively to produce cookies. The control sample A was without almond and carrot flour. The cookies produced were analysed for vitamin content and were stored for 7weeks at relative humidity corresponding to wet and dry season condition (70% and 30% respectively). The cookies were then analysed for pH, moisture and fungi content in an interval of every 2 weeks using standard methods, at the end of the storage, the sensory attributes and vitamin content of the cookies were analysed. The vitamin content range: from 341.53 to 653.27 µg/100 g for vitamin A, 1.523 to 2.450 mg/g for vitamin B1, 0.65 to 0.92 mg/g for vitamin B2, 3.12 to 3.52 mg/g for vitamin B3 and 2.093 to 3.007 mg/g for vitamin C. All cookies samples were generally accepted by sensory panelist before storage and at the end of storage time. At the end of storage, pH value ranged from 5.5 to 7.8 for wet season condition cookies and from 5.5 to 5.7 for dry season condition cookies. The moisture content ranged from 4.5 to 6.17% for wet season condition cookies and 1.33 to 1.63% for dry season condition cookies. The vitamin A content after storage ranged from 341.53 to 653.23 IU/100 g for wet season condition cookies and 336.61 to 653.01 IU/100 g for dry season condition cookies, while vitamin C ranged from 2.093 to 3.007 mg/g and 2.11 to 3.01 mg/g for wet and dry season condition cookies respectively. 1CFU of fungi was identified for each sample of cookie. The study provides evidence that wheat, almond and carrot are suitable for cookies production and variation of storage conditions did not cause spoilage of cookies.

Introduction: Incessant health risks associated with chemical preservatives have resorted to the need of exploring natural alternatives with antioxidant potentials in meat processing. In this study, the effect of Ocimum basilicum (OBE) and Gongronema latifolium (GLE) extracts were evaluated in smoked beef during 9 days of room storage (25±1°C).

Methodology: Beef samples were prepared from freshly cut rounds (2 kg each) allotted to four groups containing Nitrite, OBE, GLE and OBE+GLE respectively. Prepared beef samples were subjected to physicochemical (cooking loss, yield and colour), sensory characteristics, pH and lipid oxidative analyses. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at α_0.05.

Results: No significant change was observed in cooking yield and colour although higher values occurred in control samples. OBE and GLE inclusions exhibited a marked potential in sensory characteristics such as flavour, texture, tenderness, juiciness with the panelists rating the latter as the samples with overall acceptability. Results in storage period showed a significant progression in TBARS and pH values in all treatments with the highest and lowest values observed in control and OBE treatments.

Conclusion: GLE treated beef showed a marked efficacy throughout the storage period than the other extract-treated samples. With the need to provide natural alternatives against chemical preservatives, exploring its synergistic effects with other cheap, accessible and rich bioactive sources will be imperative in shelf life extension of meat.