Tawheed Amin

Evaluation of Techno Functional, Nutritional and Storage Stability of Wheat Based Crackers Incorporated with Brown Rice Flour and Carboxymethyl Cellulose

A study was conducted at Division of Post-Harvest Technology; SKUAST-Kashmir to develop wheat based crackers incorporated with brown rice flour. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to study the effect of brown rice flour, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and shortening on quality characteristics of crackers. Central composite rotatable design (CCRD) with brown rice flour (10-40%), CMC (1-3%) and shortening (5-12%) as independent variables produced twenty different combinations that were used to investigate the effect of these variables on product responses viz spread ratio, volume index, density, thickness, width and puffiness. The independent responses- Brown rice flour, CMC and shortening significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected the product responses. Brown rice flour incorporation had pronounced effect on quality parameters than shortening and CMC. Optimized processing parameters for the preparation of product was brown rice flour (10%), CMC (1.810%) and shortening (5%). Storage studies of the final product revealed that the shelf-life stability of brown rice flour incorporated crackers was maintained up to 3 months in cellophane bags under ambient storage conditions. However, a gradual increase in free fatty acid concentration and decrease in hardness of crackers was reported over a period of 90 days of storage.

In-vitro antioxidant and antibacterial activities of pumpkin, quince, muskmelon and bottle gourd seeds

Ethanol and chloroform extracts of pumpkin, quince, muskmelon, and bottle gourd seeds were studied for in-vitro antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Crude protein and fat contents of all the seeds compared favorably with high protein legumes and high oil containing oilseeds. Ethanol and chloroform extracts of bottle gourd seeds had highest phenolic content. A direct positive relationship between antioxidant activities and extract concentration was observed with the relationship being more pronounced in chloroform extract of quince seeds (R2 = 0.9685 and 0.9829) followed by ethanol extract of pumpkin seeds (R2 = 0.9666 and 0.9685) as per 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) method, respectively. Seed extracts were also studied for in-vitro antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhii, Enterococcus sp., Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. Ethanol extract of pumpkin seeds inhibited the growth of all bacteria; however, both the extracts of quince seeds did not show any activity against S. typhii, E. coli and S. aureus.

Nutritional and storage stability of wheat-based crackers incorporated with brown rice flour and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)

ABSTRACT A study was conducted to develop brown rice flour (BRF) incorporated wheat-based crackers. Central composite rotatable design with three independent variables – BRF (10–40%), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) (1–3%), and shortening (5–12%) – produced 20 different combinations. Response surface methodology was used to study the effect of different levels of BRF, CMC, and shortenings on product characteristics like spread ratio, volume index, density, width, thickness, and puffiness. All the three independent variables significantly (p < 0.05) affected the product characteristics. However, BRF had more pronounced effect on product characteristics than other two independent variables. The optimum level of ingredients obtained by numerical optimization for development of crackers was – BRF to wheat flour ratio (10:90), CMC (1.8%), and shortening (5%). The optimized product packed in cellophane bags was found shelf stable for a period of 3 months under ambient conditions. The present study, therefore, confirms the feasibility of BRF incorporation (10%) in development of wheat-based crackers.

Structural properties of high-protein, low glycaemic index (GI) rice flour

Abstract Low glycaemic index (GI) rice flour was prepared by the enzymatic hydrolysis method. The protein content of treated (high-protein, low GI) rice flour was about 3.5 times higher than untreated rice flour, suggesting its use in infant formula or other protein-fortified food products. The GI of untreated and treated rice flour was found to be 88.0 ± 0.2 and 46.1 ± 0.2, respectively. High-protein, low-GI rice flour was studied for thermal and structural properties, which showed significant (p < 0.05) differences from untreated rice flour. The results of thermal properties showed a decrease in transition temperatures and enthalpy of gelatinization. The ratio of peaks at 1045 cm−1 and 1015 cm−1 of treated rice flour was significantly (p<0.05) lower than that of untreated rice flour. This could be ascribed to the loss of crystallinity due to enzymatic degradation. These results further support the decrease in transition temperatures and enthalpy of gelatinization. The results of the rheological studies of high-protein, low-GI rice flour revealed that both untreated and treated rice flour samples exhibited non-Newtonian shear-thinning flow behaviour (n < 1), which is characterized by a decrease in viscosity with an increase in shear rate.