Effect of Amaranth addition on the nutritional composition and consumer acceptability of extruded provitamin A-biofortified maize snacks

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of adding Amaranth leaf powder on the nutrient content and consumer acceptability of extruded provitamin A-biofortified (PVA) maize snacks. Flours of four varieties of PVA maize were composited with Amaranth leaf powder at 0, 1 and 3% (w/w) substitution of, respectively, and extruded into snacks. The ash content of the snacks increased from 0.53 g/100 g-0.58 g/100 g to 0.650 g/100g-89 g/100 g and protein content increased from 9.12 g/100 g-10.94 g/100 g when Amaranth was increased from 0% to 3%. Similarly, lysine content increased from 0.10 g/100 g to 0.17 g/100 g, whilst methionine increased from 0.14 g/100 g to 0.19 g/100 g. The provitamin A content of the snacks ranged from 1.29 µg/g to 1.40 µg/g at 0% Amaranth and 1.54 µg/g to 1.78 µg/g at 3% Amaranth. The acceptability of the snacks decreased with increasing Amaranth concentration, only a very small proportion (2-8%) of the panel liked the snacks extremely. PVA maize with added Amaranth leaf powder has a potential for use in nutritious and healthy extruded snacks, but the consumer acceptability of the snacks should be improved

Effect of roselle extracts on the selected quality characteristics of ice cream

In this study, different concentrations of aqueous extracts (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% w/v) from roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) calyces were incorporated in formulations of soft-serve ice cream as functional additives. The roselle-flavored ice cream was evaluated for physico-chemical properties (color, viscosity, pH, total solids, total titratable acidity, meltdown rate, overrun) and descriptive sensory properties. High concentration of roselle extracts had an effect on the colour of ice cream as shown by an increase (0–1.50) in redness (+a*-values) whilst the lightness (L*-values) of the ice cream decreased (80.30–64.20). As the concentration of roselle extracts increased in the formulation, the meltdown rate of the ice cream also increased from 0.74 to 2.33 g/min whilst a gradual decrease in viscosity (238.3 to 242.3 cP) was observed compared to the control (246 cP). The overrun progressively increased (14.01–33.49%) as the concentration of roselle extracts increased. The pH and total soluble solids significantly decreased (6.8–6.3 and 35.5–25.6°Brix, respectively) at higher concentrations of roselle extracts whilst total titratable acidity increased (0.16–1.5 g of malic acid per 100 g). The results of this study suggest that the ice cream sample with 5% roselle extract has a potential as a functional ice cream since it exhibited high overrun, low meltdown, desirable viscosity, high total solids and light color intensity. This ice cream was described by sensory panel as cream white, sweet and milky with vanilla flavor. The ice cream could be acceptable as consumers are familiar with its descriptive sensory properties