Enrichment of Fermented Sorghum Flour with Pumpkin Pulp and Seed for Production of A Vitamin A and Iron Enhanced Supplementary Food

Vitamin A and iron deficiencies are prevalent in preschool children being a public health concern. The study aimed at developing a flour blend formulation made of sorghum, pumpkin pulp and seeds and examining its contribution to the daily nutrient requirement for iron and vitamin A among preschool children. Three flour blends were formulated using a mixture of fermented sorghum flour, pumpkin seed flour and pumpkin pulp flour with the following ratios 80:10:10 (FP1), 70:15:15 (FP2) and 60:20:20 (FP3), respectively whereas control was made of 100% fermented sorghum flour. The flour blends and the control were analyzed for moisture content, protein, crude fiber, crude fat, ash, carbohydrate, beta-carotene and iron content. Further, sensory tests were conducted using a nine-hedonic scale to evaluate consumers acceptability of porridge made of the flour samples. Microbial analysis was conducted to establish the safety of developed flours. The results show that as the proportion of pumpkin pulp and pumpkin seed flours increased the protein content, ash, vitamin A and iron content significantly (P<0.05) increased. The flour blend FP3 recorded the highest amount of protein (22.87%), vitamin A (875.00 µg RAE/100g) and iron (27.51 mg/100g). The FP2 flour blend was the most preferred with sensory score of 7.91 and had ability to meet >70% of daily protein, iron and vitamin A requirements of preschool children thus most suitable for a feeding trial. The findings of this study demonstrate that pumpkin pulp and pumpkin seed can be used to enhance the nutritive value of sorghum and as such meet the protein, iron and vitamin A requirements of preschool children aiding in the eradication of nutritional deficiencies.

Use of pseudo cereals in food production

Pseudo-cereals grains, edible seeds, which belong to dicotyledonous plants, are becoming in demand in the human diet as gluten-free grains with excellent nutritional and nutraceutical value. Quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat are the most important pseudo-cereals. Recently, pseudo-cereals have attracted attention because of their high nutritional value of proteins, and their storage proteins are not toxic to celiac patients. In addition, seeds are an important source of dietary fibre and phenols, which are beneficial to health. Research has shown the suitability of amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat flour as a substitute for grain flour in the production of gluten-free biscuits. The article represents data on the chemical and functional composition of amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat and considers the production possibility of gluten-free biscuits using an experimental mixture design to optimize a ternary mixture of amaranth, quinoa, and buckwheat flour in terms of colour parameters, specific volume and hardness. Nutritional and sensory aspects of the optimized formulation were also assessed. The resulting biscuits based on the flour blend of pseudo-cereals were characterized as a product rich in dietary fibre, a good source of essential amino acids, linolenic acid and minerals, with good sensory acceptability. The data presented testify to the possibility of using the flour blend of amaranth, quinoa and buckwheat as an alternative ingredient for gluten-free biscuits.

Nutritional and Technological Optimization of Wheat-Chickpea- Milk Powder Composite Flour and Its Impact on Rheological and Sensorial Properties of Leavened Flat Bread

Flour quality is influenced by the nature of the gluten and its various components. Gluten free flour made of pulses is known to enhance the nutritional quality of wheat flour. However, its addition can compromise the rheological and sensorial attributes of the bread. We used mixture design to optimize nutritional and technological qualities of a wheat–chickpea flour blend by adding milk powder as a natural organoleptic improver. A total of thirteen flour blends were prepared by incorporating 10 to 30% chickpea flour and 10 to 20% milk powder to wheat flour. Our results showed that the optimal flour blend consisted of 60% wheat, 24% chickpea, and 16% milk powder. Farinographic parameters of the optimal dough blend remained on par with those of the control dough (100% wheat flour), thereby preserving its bread-making quality. Sensory analysis of breads made from the optimal flour blend revealed no significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) from wheat flour for crumb and chewiness. Appreciation was brought to the appearance, crust, aroma, and taste in the optimized bread. This study suggests that chickpea flour can be suitably incorporated into bread wheat flour up to a percentage of 24% with 16% milk powder to produce bread with optimal nutritional quality while improving its sensory attributes and consumer acceptability.

Development of technology for modified starch incorporated grains and pulse blended bakery and pasta products

The study aimed to investigate the appropriate technology for the development of modified starch and standardize the millet-based bakery and pasta products incorporated with modified starch and measure the glycemic index of the standardized therapeutic baked and pasta products. The physical modification and chemical modification techniques were performed to optimize the technology for modified starch. Refined wheat flour was substituted with millet flour, modified starch and pulse flour at various percentages to optimize the flour blend for pasta and bakery products. The products were subjected to in vitro study to measure the glycemic index. Physical modification technique, i.e. autoclave-cooling, was found to be optimum for the development of modified starch. The optimum flour blend for pasta products was whole wheat flour(50%), millet flour (25 and 50%), cassava modified starch (15 and 25%) and green ram flour (10%) and it was found to be acceptable without affecting its sensory attributes. The optimum blend for bread was whole wheat flour (50%), kodo / barnyard millet flour (50%) with cassava modified starch (10%) and for low-fat cookies, it was millet flour (20%) and modified starch (15 %). Among the three pasta products, noodles and macaroni were found to be highly acceptable with minimum cooking loss. The in vitro study showed that the pasta products have a hypoglycemic effect suitable for lifestyle disorder patients and do not involve high production costs and earn good returns to the entrepreneurs.

Dynamics of Volatile Compounds in Triticale Bread with Sourdough: From Flour to Bread

Triticale has been suggested for human consumption due to its valuable nutritional composition. The aim of this study was to evaluate volatile compound dynamics in the technological processes of triticale bread and triticale bread with sourdough prepared using Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis based cultures. Two types of sourdough ready-to-use sourdough and two-stage sourdough were used for bread making. Triticale bread without sourdough was used as a control. Volatile compounds from a headspace of flour blend, sourdough, as well as mixed dough, fermented dough, bread crumb and crust were extracted using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) in combination with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Alcohols, mainly 1-hexanol, were the main volatiles in the triticale flour blend, whereas in the headspace of sourdough samples ethyl-acetate, ethanol and acetic acid dominated. Two-stage sourdough after 30 min fermentation showed the highest sum of peak areas formed by 14 volatile compounds, resulting in substrates for further aroma development in bread. A total of 29 compounds were identified in the bread: in the crumb the dominant volatile compounds were alcohols, ketones, acids, but in the crust—alcohols, aldehydes, furans dominated. The use of two-stage sourdough provided a more diverse spectrum of volatile compounds. Such volatile compounds as ethanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 2-hydroxy-2-butanone, 2-methylpropanoic acid, and acetic acid were identified in all the analysed samples in all stages of bread making.

Quality Evaluation of Sweet Potato - Acha Flour Blend Biscuits

The study investigates the chemical, physical and sensory properties of sweet potato and acha flour based biscuits. The work was aimed at ameliorating the quality of acha-based biscuit with addition of sweet potato flour. Flour blends were produced by substituting sweet potato into acha flour at 20, 40 and 60%. Proximate, physical and sensory properties of the biscuit were analyzed. The carbohydrate, moisture content, fat content, fibre and ash increased from 67.21 to 75.94, 5.69 to 6.74, 13.81 to14.87, 1.4 to 1.68, and 2.48 to 3.45 respectively with an increase in added sweet potato flour (20-60), while the protein decreased from 8.14 to 3.73. The relative decrease could be due to the low inherent protein of sweet potato. Magnesium, phosphorus and potassium increased from 220.33 to 375.22, 0.438 to 0.632 and 218 to 252.33mg/100g respectively with added sweet potato flour. There was an increase in break strength and spread ratio from 1.35 to 2.95 kg 4.80 to 5.13, respectively, with an increase in the level of sweet potato flour substitution. The reverse was observed for thickness and diameter of the biscuit which decreased from 0.70 to 0.60 and 4.28 to 4.13 cm, respectively. The average mean score of texture, colour, taste, flavour and general acceptability ranges from 6.05 to 7.65, 6.55 to 6.40, 5.55 to 6,25, 6.70 to 5.75 and 6.10 to 6.95, respectively. The sample 40:60 sweet potato-acha flour blend biscuit with average means scores of 6.95 was most preferred and acceptable with the corresponding increment of 3.45, 14.87, 8.14, and 1.68 of ash content, fat content, protein and crude fibre, respectively.

Nutrient Composition and Functional Properties of Fonio (Digetaria exilis) and Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) Flour Blends

This study investigated the nutrient composition and functional properties of flour blend of acha and amaranth grains. The amaranth flour was substituted into acha flour at 5, 10, 15, and 20% and to produce acha-amaranth flour blend. The chemical composition and functional properties of the flour blend were determined. The protein, crude fibre, fat and ash content ranged from 7.66 - 12.93, 0.44 - 0.59, 0.15 - 1.01, and 0.11 - 0.96% with increase in added amaranth grain flour (0-20%). The moisture content and carbohydrate ranged from 12.46 – 11.7, 77.41 - 4.33% and decreased with increasing added amaranth flour. The potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin B3, vitamin E and vitamin B6 content ranged from 0.09 - 0.14, 0.06 - 0.12, 0.19 - 0.34.14 - 0.24, 0.39 - 0.75 and 0.54- 0.69 mg/100 g increase with increasing in amaranth flour. The bulk density, swelling capacity ranged from 0.79 - 0.76 g/cm3 and 295.00 -275.00 ml/g, respectively with increases in added amaranth flour. The water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity and foaming capacity ranged from 120.00 – 145.00, 110.00 – 135.00, 0.06 - 0.09, ml/g, respectively, with increasing acha substitution using amaranth flour. the 20% amaranth flour addition had the highest values of protein, fat, ash and crude fiber at 7.66 - 12.93, 0.44 - 0.59, 0.15 - 1.01, and 0.11 - 0.96% respectively. Amaranth incorporation had significant effects and contributed to the improvement of the flour blend.