Physicochemical and sensory properties of traditional baked cake (kuih bakar) with coconut milk and soy milk

Coconut milk is widely used in Malaysia as one of the essential ingredients in preparing traditional baked cake or ‘kuih bakar’. Increased demand for coconut milk affects its availability and cost. Thus, it is important to study a possible alternative ingredient to ensure the continuity of this traditional dessert. This project aimed to determine the physicochemical and sensory properties of ‘kuih bakar’ produced with coconut milk and soy milk. In the present study, ‘kuih bakar’ was prepared with fresh coconut milk (FCM) (positive control), fresh soy milk (FSM), commercial coconut milk (CCM), commercial soy milk (CSM), and without milk (negative control). Proximate analysis showed that substitution of coconut milk with soy milk reduced the fat and increased the protein content of ‘kuih bakar’ significantly (p 0.05) on the colour properties and water activity of the sample. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in scores during sensory evaluation between the samples but the ‘kuih bakar’ produced with FSM showed no significant difference (p < 0.05) as compared to FCM and CCM. This study demonstrated that physicochemical and sensory attributes of traditional ‘kuih bakar’ can be maintained by using FSM as a substitution of the traditional coconut milk used in producing ‘kuih bakar’

A cytotoxicity and sub-acute toxicity study on tea leaves cultivated in Sabah

The present work investigated the cytotoxicity capacity of the MDA-MB-231 (human cancer-derived), A549 (human lung cancer-derived), Caov3 (human ovarian cancer-derived), and HeLa (human cervical cancer-derived) cell lines on a wide range of tea leaves; green tea, black tea, tea waste, and compost from Sabah. A group of male and female Sprague Dawley rats was used to screen the sub-acute toxicity of green tea extract in tea leaves from Sabah for 28 d. Results revealed that the ethanol extract of tea leaves had strong cytotoxic activity against all cancer lines. Tea waste showed higher cytotoxicity when extracted using hot water. The ethanol extract of black tea leaves exhibited the highest inhibitory activity against the proliferation of Caov3, whereas the ethanol extract of green tea leaves exhibited a promising cytotoxic activity against MDA-MB-231 and HeLa cell lines. Toxicity studies showed decreased testes weight and increased liver weight in male rats that were administered with 5000 mg/kg of tea extract. This coincided with the significant increase portrayed by enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in the serum of treated male rats in the 5000 mg/kg dose group. Moreover, there was an increase of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and ALT for the female rats in the 5000 mg/kg dose group. The increased levels of ALT and ALP enzymes, as well as liver weight, signified mechanical trauma in the liver of male and female rats in the 5000 mg/kg dose group

Physicochemical and sensory analysis of surimi sausage incorporated with rolled oat powder subjected to frying

In the present work, the effects of rolled oat powder (ROP) incorporated into surimi sausage on the physicochemical and sensory attributes of sausage were investigated. The incorporation of ROP into surimi sausage significantly increased moisture content, protein content, and water holding capacity, but decreased shrinkage and cooking loss. The incorporation of ROP was also able to significantly decrease fat absorption during frying. However, increased amount of ROP caused a significant decrease in texture especially after frying. Although a decrease in texture was recorded, the sensory analysis score did not display any significant difference on the colour, hardness, and overall acceptability of the surimi sausage. The development of surimi sausage incorporated with ROP could be an approach to utilize fish as a commodity, and produce a healthier and more nutritious sausage even after frying

Effects of frying on fish, fish products and frying oil - a review

Fish and fish products contain important source of nutrient that provides benefits upon consumption. The increasing demand and high utilization of fish have caused a market shift in the fishery industry. Although fish is nutritious, some consumers do not prefer to consume fish in its original form because of its fishy taste, fishy odour and it is highly perishable. To further promote the consumption of fish, the production of fish products and frying are applied to suit consumers’ preferences. Frying is commonly used in various food premises as it changes the characteristics of the fish and fish products, especially the taste and texture. However, the increase in awareness has changed the perception of the consumer as they prefer healthier food in their lifestyle. Despite the increase in awareness, some consumers still prefer fried foods and food products due to their unique sensory properties and texture. To understand the effects of frying on foods, several parameters during frying are studied. Frying temperature, frying cycle, frying time, frying techniques and frying oils used are parameters that could affect the physicochemical and sensory attributes of the fish and fish products. Repetitive frying could cause the formation of toxins and alter the fatty acid content in the fish, fish products and frying oils. This changes the taste and alters the composition of the foods. Meanwhile, different frying times, oil and techniques cause significant changes to the chemical composition, sensory attributes, lipid oxidation, fat content, oil absorption and fatty acid profiles of the fish and fish product. This review aimed to gather information specifically on the changes in fish and fish products upon frying at different frying cycles, time, temperature, oils, and techniques

Effect of foam-mat drying on kinetics and physical properties of Japanese threadfin bream (Nemipterus japonicus) powder

Japanese threadfin bream (Nemipterus japonicus) minced meat foams added with methyl cellulose (MC) at a concentration of 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% w/w with foam thickness of 0.5 mm were subjected to foam-mat drying (FMD) at two drying temperatures (70 and 80°C). The objective of this study was to investigate the drying kinetics of the minced fish meat foams at different drying temperatures and MC concentrations. The effect of FMD conditions on the physical properties of powdered samples was also investigated. The drying data were fitted to a selected thin-layer drying models based on moisture ratio. The Page model was found to be the best model (R2 = 0.9930, χ2 = 0.0005 and RMSE = 0.0202) to describe the drying curves of threadfin bream foams. The L*, a*, b*, and whiteness values of FMD fish powder were significantly affected by all the factors including the interaction (p < .05). An increase in particle size from 116.22 to 131.80 μm was observed as the drying temperature and MC concentration increased. The powder showed good—fair flowability and are within the acceptable range. Both drying temperatures yielded fish powder with satisfactory physical characteristics

Physical properties and sensory acceptance of red palm olein-based low-fat ice cream added with guar gum and xanthan gum as stabilizers

Red palm olein (RPOL) is rich in nutritional and antioxidant compounds including carotenoids, tocopherols, and tocotrienols which makes it beneficial in food applications. However, to maintain the colloidal stability of RPOL in ice cream is challenging. Therefore, this study was carried out to formulate value-added ice creams supplemented with RPOL (0.1-5.0% w/w) in combination with guar gum (GG; 0.0-0.4% w/w) or xanthan gum (XG; 0.0-0.4% w/w) as stabilizers. Physical properties and sensory acceptance of these ice creams were determined in comparison with selected commercial ice cream samples (CM-ice creams). Ice cream with 0.1% RPOL and 0.4% guar gum resembled CM-ice creams in terms of viscosity (9.08±0.05 Pa.s.), hardness (3.59±3.12 kg), and amount of melted ice cream/30 min (62.00±2.83%). Meanwhile, ice cream with 0.1% RPOL and 0.4% xanthan gum was similar with CM-ice creams in their viscosity (9.19±0.04 Pa.s.) and hardness (0.60±0.25 kg), yet was relatively lower in the amount of melted ice cream/30 min (33.46±5.06%). All ice creams appeared red and yellow due to the presence of RPOL, and the colour intensity was enhanced with the presence of the stabilizers. The RPOL-based ice creams displayed lower score in sensory properties than those of CM-ice creams, thus highlighted the necessary attributes that need to be improved in future studies

Effects of extraction conditions on characterization of gelatin from water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) skin

The study aimed to determine the characteristics of gelatin from water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) skin pre-treated with NaOH and Ca(OH)2 at different concentrations (0.3 M, 0.5 M and 0.7 M) and extracted at 65˚C for 6 hrs and 24 hrs respectively. The gelatin obtained was evaluated for its moisture, protein and ash content, UV-vis absorption value, colour, emulsifying and foaming properties. The highest yield (20.25%) was observed for gelatin extracted by 0.5 M NaOH at 24 hrs extraction time. For alkaline pre-treatment, it was found that NaOH was more efficient than Ca(OH)2 in terms of preparing the skin for subsequent extraction process. The protein content of the extracted gelatin samples was in the range of 71.76% - 87.83%, showing that the varying processing conditions are sufficiently to recover protein from the raw material. Ash content for all samples was in agreement with USDA standard, which was below than 3%. The extracted gelatin had varying pH values which were from 5.47 to 7.02. The gelatin was colourless with ‘L’ values of more than 80, except for 0.7 M Ca(OH)2 at 24 hrs which showed slightly darker properties. The intensity of the UV-vis absorption spectrum showed that a high absorption peak was observed at 6 hrs of extraction time (230 – 250 nm) compared to 24 hrs extraction time. Emulsifying properties of buffalo gelatin increased with increasing concentrations of alkaline except for 0.7 M NaOH and 0.7 M Ca(OH)2 for both extraction time. Meanwhile, foam expansion of the gelatin extracted from the different extraction conditions was observed to have a significant difference (p < 0.05) for all samples. To our knowledge, buffalo skin has the potential to be an alternative source of gelatin in the diversified industrial application by modifying the extraction conditions in order to produce gelatin with desired quality