Supplementation of Rice Flour With Carrot, Date Palm and Defatted Soybean Flours for Enhanced Nutritional, Antioxidants and Physicochemical Properties

The nutritional, antioxidants and physicochemical properties of rice flour is being improved by the addition of carrot, date palm and defatted soybean flours. The effect of the addition of defatted soy bean (5 - 15%), carrot (5 - 15%) and date palm (10 - 20%) flours on the chemical compositions; antioxidants and functional properties; and pasting characteristics of rice-based composite flour were investigated. While defatted soy beans (15%) resulted in the highest protein content (17.86%), blend with highest carrot flour inclusion had the highest ash (1.88%) and crude fiber (1.93%) contents. The sample with highest carrot inclusion (15%) had the best antioxidant and functional properties followed by the sample with soy bean incorporation from 10 to 15%. The same sample with 15% carrot inclusion had the second best pasting characteristics, next to that of 100% rice flour sample. It was noted that the samples consisting date palm (80% rice and 20% date palm flours; 80% rice, 5% soybean, 5% carrot and 10% date palm flours) had the least chemical composition together with the least functional and antioxidant properties. However, the sample with date palm incorporation had the third best pasting properties while 100% rice flour had the best pasting properties. Overall, carrot flour incorporation resulted in rice based composite flour with the best fibre and minerals contents; functional and antioxidants properties closely followed by sample with 10-15% soybean incorporation

Quality chracterization of functional soy-based yoghurt incorporated with scent leaf (Ocimum gratissimum) essential oil microcapsules

Scent leaf (Ocimum gratissimum) essential oil (OGEO) have been proven to possess antioxidants, antiseptics, antibacterial and antifungal activities. This study evaluated the effect of inclusion of OGEO microcapsule on the quality of soy based yoghurt. OGEO was encapsulated using high speed homogenizer, followed by freeze drying while gum arabic serves as the emulsifying agent or binder. The antioxidant and physicochemical properties of the soy-based yoghurt incorporated with the OGEO microcapsules were carried out. The flavonoid content of the control soy-based yoghurt increased from 0.11 mg/100 g to 0.35 mg/100 g, FRAP content from 20.01 mg/100 g to 27.51 mg/100 g, and iron chelating from 7.50% to 11.08%, phenolic content from 3.34mgGAE/g to 5.94mgGAE/g, the DDPH from 50.90% to 56.88% with increased incorporation of the OGEO microcapsules. The water holding capacity of the soy based yoghurt increased by almost 2%, the pH reduced from 4.75 to 4.15, acidity increased from 0.71 to 0.99%, while the degree of syneresis reduced from 26.44 to 23.03% over a period of five days storage at room temperature. The bacteria count of the soy-based yoghurt without OGEO microcapsule increased from none at day 0 to 4.3.33 × 104 cfu/100 ml by day 5, while soy-based yoghurt incorporated with OGEO microcapsule had no count by day 3 and 3.62 × 103 cfu/100 ml by day 5. There were no yeast and mold counts for the soy-based yoghurt incorporated with OGEO microcapsules for the five days storage whereas, the sample without the microcapsule recorded 2.4 × 104cfu/100 ml by day 5. Incorporation of soy-based yoghurt with OGEO microcapsule improved the antioxidant and physicochemical properties as well as improved the shelf life of the product