Food Technology
Azade Farazmand; Hossein Jalali; Ali Najafi
Abstract
Introduction Potato strips are one of the most widely consumed products, and due to their high oil content, they have caused public health concerns. Therefore, efforts to reduce oil absorption can alleviate these concerns to some extent. Edible coating is an effective way to reduce oil uptake, because ...
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Introduction Potato strips are one of the most widely consumed products, and due to their high oil content, they have caused public health concerns. Therefore, efforts to reduce oil absorption can alleviate these concerns to some extent. Edible coating is an effective way to reduce oil uptake, because the oil absorption is a surface phenomenon. Edible coatings should adhere well to the surface of the product and provide a uniform and complete coverage for the product. Preventing the migration of oxygen, carbon dioxide, aromas, oils, moisture, improving the appearance of food and mechanical properties. In this study, the possibility of reducing oil absorption in French fries was investigated using okra mucilage and chitosan as edible coatings. Material and Methods The okra was washed and then cut into about 1 cm pieces and poured into containers with lids. Then water in a ratio of 2:1 weight of okra was added to the container and completely covered its surface. The okra were refrigerated for 72 hours until the mucilage was completely extracted. Then the mucilage was smoothed. This solution was considered as 100% mucilage solution. To prepare a 50% solution of okra mucilage, 100% solution was mixed with an equal amount of distilled water and filtered. To produce a solution of 0.75 and 1.5% of chitosan, 7.5 and 15 g of chitosan powder was dissolved in 1000 ml of 1% acetic acid and then adjusted to pH 5. Then 5 g of glycerol was added as a plasticizer. The potato slices were first blanched in 0.5% calcium chloride solution at 90°C for 5 minutes. Then, they were immersed in coating solutions at 60°C for 5 minutes. After coating, the potato strips were fried at 180°C using a fryer and then various characteristics including coating percentage, oil absorption, and moisture content, texture firmness, peroxide value, acid number, color indices and sensory properties were examined. Design Expert 8.0.7.1 software was used to analyze the results and to draw the curves. Results and Discission The results showed that the increasing the amount of chitosan led to better coating formation in comparison with okra. The highest coverage was observed in the concentration of 1.2% chitosan and 0% okra mucilage (2.38%) and the lowest was observed in the control sample (0.11%). It was also observed that with increasing the concentration of chitosan and okra mucilage, the amount of oil absorption decreases. However, the amount of oil absorption in high concentrations of okra mucilage increased slightly. The highest oil uptake in the control sample was 20% and the lowest was observed in the sample of fried strips covered with 41% okra mucilage and 1.5% chitosan at 15.44%. The obtained model of oxidation index was not significant. The effect of okra mucilage and chitosan concentration on the texture of the samples (p <0.05) and the color indices of a* (p<0.01) and L* (p <0.05) were significant. For sensory attributes, the highest and the lowest taste score was observed for samples coated with 100% okra mucilage and 0.75% chitosan and samples coated with 18% okra mucilage and 0% chitosan respectively. Conclusion The aim of this project was to reduce the oil absorption of fried potato strips by coating them with chitosan and okra mucilage. Optimization to minimize the consumption of okra and chitosan mucilage showed that coating with 74% okra and 0.89% chitosan is suitable for coating potato slices. The desirability of this optimization was 71%, which is a reasonable percentage.
Meysam Abediyan; Seyed Hamidreza Ziaolhagh; Ali Najafi
Abstract
Introduction. Apricot is a soft fruit that normally does not have any resistance to transportation and storage conditions. In addition, apricots are climacteric fruits, produces high levels of ethylene during ripening process and have a high respiration rate. For this reason, they are very susceptible ...
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Introduction. Apricot is a soft fruit that normally does not have any resistance to transportation and storage conditions. In addition, apricots are climacteric fruits, produces high levels of ethylene during ripening process and have a high respiration rate. For this reason, they are very susceptible to physiological and microbial spoilage and have a very short shelf life. Thus, it is difficult to export this product with good quality and low waste or it is very limited. Application of edible coatings could increase the storability of apricots and delay their spoilage. Edible coatings cover the surface of the fruit and function as a barrier against water vapor, respiration gasses, and microorganisms. The effect of different natural polymers as edible coatings on the quality and shelf life of different fruits has been investigated by many researchers. Chitosan has been used in the formulation of edible coatings to extend the shelf life of citrus, papaya, strawberries and grapes (Arnon et al. 2014; Ali et al. 2011; mehrzad et al. 2011; Mostofi et al. 2011). Apples coated with whey protein concentrate showed more lightness compared with non-coated ones (Perez-Gago et al. 2006). In most studies, the effects of single edible coatings on the quality of fruits have been studied. In this research the quantitative and qualitative changes during ripening and cold storage of apricots coated with different formulations of whey protein concentrate, sodium alginate and chitosan were studied.
Materials and methods "Rajabali" variety apricots were picked up at optimum maturity and damaged ones were separated. Edible coating solutions were prepared by dissolving different amounts of whey protein concentrate, sodium alginate and chitosan in to distilled water. Glycerol was used as plasticizer. The apricots were dipped in the prepared solutions with different concentrations for at least five minutes. Then they were stored for 35 days at 2°C. Some quantitative and qualitative characteristics of coated apricots, such as weight loss, acidity, color, texture, shrinkage, browning reactions, vitamin C, and microbial load were determined after 0 and 35 days of storage. The results were analyzed by response surface methodology based on central composite design with five replications at the central point.
Results & discussion. The statistical analysis of the results by central composite design (CCD) indicated that the different concentrations of whey protein did not have any significant effect on weight loss during storage. The weight loss decreased as the concentration of sodium alginate and chitosan increased. Chitosan and sodium alginate had an important role in maintaining firmness. The firmness of apricots were highest at the upper limit of sodium alginate (1%) and chitosan concentrations (2%). The b* (yellowness) and L* (lightness) values of the apricots were increased as the concentration of chitosan was increased and the concentration of sodium alginate decreased. No significant difference was observed between the a* values (redness) of apricots treated with different coatings. In addition, the acidity of the apricots was increased by increasing the concentration of chitosan and decreased by increasing the concentration of sodium alginate. Browning of the coated fruits was also increased as the concentration of chitosan was increased to 1%. Increasing the concentration of sodium alginate increased the shrinkage of the apricots at low concentrations of whey protein concentrate and decreased it at high concentrations of whey protein concentrate. It was also shown that increasing concentrations of chitosan would reduce microbial load. The optimization of the formulations with Design Expert software showed that the best formulation of edible coating for preserving apricots was 1.45% of chitosan, 1.25% of alginate, and 0 percent for Whey protein concentrate.
Ali Najafi; Reza Shokrani; Mohammad Shahedi; Leila Nouri
Abstract
Iced tea is a world popular beverage,for example about 80% of people in Italy and United States, consume iced tea as a thirsty-quenching beverage. However, it is also believed that iced tea contains health benefit components. Process of iced tea involved tea solid extraction and then mixing with edible ...
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Iced tea is a world popular beverage,for example about 80% of people in Italy and United States, consume iced tea as a thirsty-quenching beverage. However, it is also believed that iced tea contains health benefit components. Process of iced tea involved tea solid extraction and then mixing with edible acids, flavors, sugar or non-nutritional sweeteners. In this research, regarding to the demand market for new beverage, the possibility of production iced tea beverage using green tea leave was investigated and was extracted under predetermined conditions. The effects of extraction temperature and time on the extractability were examined. The results of extraction at various temperatures in sample demonstrated that the extracted solid yield increased steeply during the first 5-10 min of extraction, but gradually in next 10-30 min and after 30 min the extraction continued slowly. Tea cream and haze extract was also determined using gravimetry and spectrophotometric methods, respectively. The extraction components, which cause tea cream and haze formation in extract increased with increasing of temperature. A sharp increase was observed when extraction temperature increased from 50 to 60oC. There was no significant difference (p
