Mladenka Pestorić

Relationship of Physicochemical Characteristics with Sensory Profile of Cookies Enriched with Medicinal Herbs

In this work, a range of model cookies enriched with different quantities of medicinal herbs, applied in two forms (pulverized mixture and extract), were studied to compare and describe relationships between physicochemical and sensory data. Multivariate statistical methods were applied to estimate relationships in the analyzed data. Analysis of variance showed that the majority of analyzed parameters were highly significant in discriminating among the samples (p < 0.05), which supported the usefulness of their application in characterizing the quality profile of enriched cookies. Principal component analysis on physicochemical data revealed that cookies at the same enrichment level showed more similarities. Principal component analysis on sensory data exhibited a larger separation between the samples with increasing enrichment levels, especially in the case of pulverized herbal mixture. According to partial least squares regression, two significant partial least squares components explained 92.7% and predicted 78.0% variation in the data. The most important parameters in discriminating between the cookies enriched with medicinal herbs were lightness, red tonality, and hardness. The selected physicochemical parameters could be used in future studies to evaluate variously enriched cookies by establishing models and investigating the predictability of sensory quality.

A Comparative Study of Two Analytical Methods for Fat Content Determination in Brewer's Grits

The fat content of brewers grits is an important determinant of product grade and suitability for beer production, even though the content is relatively low, ranging from 0.5 to 1.5%. Fat content >1% is often considered undesirable due to its possible impact on beer quality. Traditional chemical analyses for determination of fat content cannot be applied practically to process control because they are too time-consuming. The implementation of a rapid and simple near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) method depends heavily on its reliability and accuracy in relation to the approved method. This study was conducted to investigate the extent of the differences between values obtained using reference and NIRS methods for determination of fat content in brewers grits. Conventional statistical evaluation, as well as extensive statistical analyses that included descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of variance, discriminant analysis, analysis of variance, and profile analysis, were applied. Significant differences between methods were not observed. Better precision and similar accuracy compared with the reference method showed that the NIRS method could be used for process analysis with a high level of reliability.

Sensory profile and preference mapping of cookies enriched with medicinal herbs

abstract The sensory profile and acceptance of cookies enriched with medicinal herbs mixture “Vitalplant,” aimed at body weight regulation and metabolism enhancement, were evaluated. Seven cookies were prepared varying the content of powder and extract mixture (0, 2, 4, and 6 g/100 g flour basis, respectively). The descriptors used by an expert sensory panel (n = 8) that best separated samples were: appearance (shape, uniformity, surface, and color), texture (structure break, firmness, and chewiness), odor, and flavor. Preference mapping was assessed using multidimensional scaling on data obtained through an acceptability test (n = 64) with a 5-point hedonic scale. The hedonic responses showed significant differences (p < 0.05) between the cookies. The first three principal components captured 70.90% of the total variance, indicating the complex structure in consumer preference patterns. External preference mapping showed potential for predicting consumers overall acceptance of the cookies using five descriptive attributes that drove the preference of the six consumer clusters. The vector model was selected as the model of choice for most clusters. The addition of medicinal herbs in cookies is feasible, based on the sensory results, which may facilitate marketing of functional food with sensorial qualities equivalent to conventional products.

Breadmaking performance and textural changes during storage of composite breads made from spelt wheat and different forms of amaranth grain

The objectives of the present study were to assess the baking properties of composite spelt wheat–amaranth blends and to study the staling of composite breads during a six-day storage. Different forms of amaranth grains were added to spelt bread formulation: native amaranth flour and flour from popped amaranth, including their scalded and non-scalded variants. Native amaranth flour (both scalded and non-scalded) gave loaves with the highest volume and contributed to significantly softer crumb but not in comparison to the control bread. Crumb resilience did not show significant differences among the breads but there were differences in the crumb stress relaxation parameters which indicated certain influence on the crumb viscoelastic properties. During storage, all samples developed firmer and less elastic crumbs. Drying loss and staling degree significantly increased with increased storage time. The staling rate was the highest in the bread with non-scalded amaranth flours (native and flour from popped amaranth). The changes in the crumb textural and elastic properties caused by staling turned significant after six days of storage. In general, inclusion of different forms of amaranth flour did not alter the staling of breads and they exerted similar behaviour during storage.

Selection of Optimal Sensory Properties for the Recognition of Wholemeal Bread

The aim of this article was to present the sensory evaluation of commercial wholemeal bread as a discriminative tool by selecting its optimum sensory properties in comparison with two control samples. Generated data were subjected to the multivariate analysis of variance and discriminative analysis. The obtained results showed that sensory evaluation could be a very useful tool for recognition of faked wholemeal bread with the exception of bread made from ready-to-bake mixtures. The color of the samples was the optimal property for the distinction of faked wholemeal bread.

Preliminary results of the effect of storage on functional properties of buckwheat

Cereal grains mostly belong to warm-season crops, but the processing of and demand for cereal grains are notable throughout the year, which emphasizes the paramount importance of storage in maintaining a sufficient supply of cereals in all seasons. However, storage facilities, grain condition and storage period are critical factors for preserving the quality of cereal grains. Furthermore, different cereals require different storage conditions for grain quality preservation. The present study provides the preliminary results of the effect of storage in shopping centres on the phenolic compounds content of buckwheat whole grains. A total of fifteen free and bound phenolic compounds were identified and quantified in fresh buckwheat grains and those stored for one year using the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results obtained indicate that storage exerted detrimental effects on the free phenolic content examined, while the content of bound phenolic compounds significantly increased during the storage period under consideration.

The influence of plant protein on the properties of dough and the quality of wholemeal spelt bread

The paper presents the effect of a soy protein concentrate (protein content 65%) as a substituent (substituting 20% wholegrain spelt flour) and a pea protein isolate (protein concentration 90%) as a substituent (substituting 5% and 10% wholegrain spelt flour) on the rheological characteristics of spelt dough and on the physical and sensory characteristics of spelt bread enriched with proteins. The stability of dough supplemented with a soy protein concentrate has turned out to be higher than the stability of dough supplemented with pea protein isolates. It is probably the result of different protein behaviour in soybeans and peas. The applied ingredients have manifested different effects on the specific bread volume. In comparison to the control bread, the specific volume of bread samples have been reduced significantly with addition of a 20% soy protein concentrate and a 10% pea protein isolate (from 1.83 ml/g to 1.39 and 1.38 respectively). On the other hand, addition of a 5% pea protein isolate has not brought to a significant decline in the specific bread volume. Addition of a 10% pea protein isolate has increased the chewiness while this parameter has not changed significantly in relation to the control bread with addition of 5% pea protein and 20% soy protein. Spelt bread with 5% pea isolated protein is the most acceptable according to the overall sensory acceptance among all the analysed samples.

Sensory differentiation of commercially produced spaghetti

This work was focused on the performance of trained and untrained panel in evaluating the texture of nine commercially produced wheat spaghetti. Several sensory methods were applied in order to investigate the performance of different panel groups. In order to avoid the loss of information obtained by non-parametric methods, data were scaled according to contingency tables. This analysis showed that significant differences existed between the two panels for the given products. On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that the used panels cannot be a good alternative to each other in providing sensory texture profiling of commercial spaghetti, except in the case when the properties of spaghetti were evaluated using the control sample.

Buckwheat-enriched wheat bread: National market placement possibilities

Quality parameters and the possibility of successful placement of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread on the national market are presented in this paper. Analysis of the market position of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread includes demands, offer and competition. Elements that affect the overall retail price of buckwheat-enriched wheat bread are given in details, along with SWOT analysis and marketing plan including target market, market supply and product marketing mix. According to all performed analyses it could be concluded that this product should be positioned on the national market, especially for people with special needs and requirements.

Comparative study of white cabbage, traditional variety and hybrid intended for biological fermentation

Traditional Serbian variety of white cabbage, cultivar “Futoski” (33 samples) and hybrid “Bravo” (10 samples) were investigated in this study for their applicability to biological fermentation. Different chemical, physical, texture and sensory characteristics of raw cabbage heads were investigated. Obtained experimental results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while correlation analysis showed the relations between different assays. Also, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been applied to classify and discriminate between different cultivars cabbage heads. Furthermore, standard score has been introduced to enable more comprehensive comparison between the investigated samples, in order to find the optimum sample, regarding observed chemical, physical, texture and sensory properties. PCA analysis showed that the best sample for cabbage cultivar “Futoski” was sample 9, while sample 34 was the best for hybrid “Bravo”, regarding their chemical, morphological and sensory characteristics.