Physicochemical properties of canola oil, olive oil and palm olein blends

Oil blending has been recognized as one of the most potent solution in producing vegetable oils with good storage stabilities and optimum fatty acids compositions. This study was conducted to identify the best oil blends in terms of physicochemical properties between canola, olive and palm olein oil. Canola and olive oils were blended at different ratios of 80:20, 60:40, 50:50, 40:60, and 20:80. Palm olein is stable against rancidity and oxidation thus the above blends were mixed with 20% palm olein. The 80:20 canola: olive blend shows the best properties after being mixed with 20% palm olein compared to other blends. It passed the cold stability test and has significantly the lowest cloud point of 6.0°C (p<0.05) which means it can be stored at low temperature (7°C). This blend also has significantly high iodine value of 116.04 gI2/100g (p<0.05), low peroxide content of 17.97 meq O2/kg and has significantly the lowest free fatty acid value of 0.16% (p<0.05). Fatty acid composition has shown that it has high unsaturated oleic acid, C18: 1 (58.83%) and relatively high ratio of linolenic acid (5.24%) - linoleic acid (16.50%) compared to other oil blends. Therefore, the oil blend of 80:20 (canola: olive) with 20% palm olein is recommended for deep-frying and can be kept longer due to its stability

Effects of extraction conditions on yield, total phenolic contents and antibacterial activity of methanolic Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume leaves extract

Increase of foodborne diseases has promulgated the development of new natural food additive with high extraction yield to eliminate food pathogenic organisms. One such possibility is the use of plant product as antibacterial agents with non-conventional method to enhance the yield. In this study, cinnamon leaves (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume) were subjected to ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE) using response surface methodology (RSM) to optimise extraction yield and total phenolic contents. The effect of two independent factors, extraction temperature (x1: 25-40°C) and extraction time (x2: 15-45 minutes) were investigated. Optimum extraction yield and total phenolic contents of cinnamon leaves were 27.49 ± 1.59% and 3987 ± 79.10 mg GAE/g which were closely as predicted using RSM (28.34%, 4048 mg GAE/g), respectively. The optimum condition of extraction yield (40°C and 45 minutes) showed the maximum zone of inhibition against all tested foodborne pathogens (7.33 ± 0.50 to 13.22 ± 0.44 mm), whereas optimum condition of total phenolic contents (33°C and 31 minutes) showed the lowest zone inhibition (6.78 ± 0.67 mm to 11.67 ± 1.41 mm). The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values range from 97.65 to 6250.00 μg/mL and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) values from 6.25 to 50.00 mg/mL. These results indicated that UAE method is excellent in producing significantly the highest of extraction yield, total phenolic contents and act as a potential natural antibacterial agent even using low extraction temperature and short time

Effect of extraction methods on yield, oxidative value, phytosterols and antioxidant content of cocoa butter

Cocoa beans are rich in numbers of beneficial bioactive compounds such as phenolics and phytosterols, which benefits to human being. The suitable extraction method is needed to produce high quality and quantity of cocoa butter and other bioactive compounds. There are many extraction method to extract these compounds such as Soxhlet extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, ultrasound extraction method and others. The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the different extraction methods producing high yields of cocoa butter, lower oxidative value, stable phytosterols and antioxidant content. The cocoa beans were subjected to different extraction methods such as Soxhlet extraction (SE), Ultrasonic extraction method (USE), Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) and Supercritical carbon dioxide with co-solvent (SCO2-Ethanol). Cocoa butter extracted using SCO2-Ethanol has significantly (p<0.05) obtained highest cocoa butter yield (37.05%) and phytosterols content (6441 μg/g of extract) compared to SE (28.87% and 4960 μg/g of extract), SCO2 (31.32% and 5492 μg/g of extract) and USE (34.81% and 5106 μg/g of extract). Meanwhile, the oxidative value of SCO2-Ethanol was significantly (p<0.05) obtained lowest value compared to other extraction methods. Extraction method are crucial in cocoa industry to minimise the cost during processing, obtain maximum extraction yield and preserve the bioactive compounds thus will improve the value of cocoa butter improve the value of cocoa butter

Comparison between conventional and alternative peeling methods on peeling efficiencies of Malaysian 'Chok Anan' mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit

Fruit industries require convenient peeling method, especially during puree processing to prevent deterioration of fruit quality and product loss. Therefore, manual, chemical (sodium hydroxide/NaOH) and enzymatic (Pectinex Ultra SP-L) peeling methods were compared to determine the peeling efficiencies of ‘Chok Anan’ mangoes. The effect of different peeling parameters (concentrations [chemical peeling: 1.6-7.3% of 0.4M-1.83M; enzymatic peeling: 0.005-0.095%], temperatures [chemical peeling: 80-95°C; enzymatic peeling: 25-40°C], and duration of soaking [chemical peeling: 5-10 min; enzymatic peeling: 30-120 min]) were evaluated for peeling yield, peeling time, absorption of chemical and enzyme solution, the penetration depth of NaOH and enzyme activities (reducing sugar analysis). The enzymatic peeling had significantly (p0.05) in peeling yield (>86%), but there was significant (p<0.05) effect on absorption of both NaoH and pectinase solutions at 0.84g/100g (enzymatic) and 2.50g/100 g (chemical), 0.45 mm penetration depth of NaOH and significant decrease in enzyme activities from 20.04g/100 mL to 4.92g/100 mL using reducing sugar analysis. The optimal enzymatic peeling conditions (concentration: 0.009%, temperature: 25°C, duration of soaking: 120 min) had made it possible to recycle the pectinase solution twice thus may be beneficial for the mango processing industry compared to chemical peeling

Sensory quality of pilot-scale prebiotic chocolates in Malaysia

Prebiotic, such as inulin, has been applied as functional food and known for its various health benefit effects such as increased mineral absorption, improved immune response and colorectal cancer prevention. An attempt was made to determine the level of Malaysian consumers’ acceptance and market potential of newly developed pilot scale prebiotic milk chocolates (MC-1) and dark chocolates (DC-1) with no sugar added as compared to control milk and dark chocolate (containing sugar), MC-0 and DC-0, respectively. Trained panels were employed to evaluate the sensory quality of the chocolate products using the quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) technique and the 7-point hedonic scale was used by consumer panels. In comparison with control milk chocolate (MC-0), consumer and trained panels gave better (p0.05) as control chocolates (MC-0 and DC-0). Similar likeness were shown by both trained panels and untrained Malaysian public consumers, where prebiotic milk chocolate MC-1 was the most preferred compare to prebiotic dark chocolate DC-1. This could be due to bitter taste driven by high cocoa liquor content in dark chocolate compared to milk chocolate. However, both type of prebiotic chocolates have high potential (>70%) to be bought by Malaysian consumers once introduced in the market

Immediate and long-term relationship between severe maternal morbidity and health-related quality of life: a prospective double cohort comparison study

Abstract Background Given the growing interest in severe maternal morbidity (SMM), the need to assess its effects on quality of life is pressing. The objective of this study was to compare the quality of life scores between women with and without SMM at 1-month and 6-month postpartum in Kelantan, Malaysia. Methods A prospective double cohort study design was applied at two tertiary referral hospitals over a 6-month period. The study population included all postpartum women who delivered in 2014. Postpartum women with and without SMM were selected as the exposed and non-exposed groups, respectively. For each exposed case identified, a non-exposed case with a similar mode of delivery was selected. The main outcome measures used were scores from the Short Form-12 Health Survey (SF-12). Results The study measured 145 exposed and 187 non-exposed women. The group-time interaction of the repeated measure analysis of variance (RM ANOVA) showed no significant difference in the mean overall SF-12 physical component summary score changes (P = 0.534) between women with and without SMM. Similarly, the group-time interaction of the RM ANOVA showed no significant difference in the mean overall SF-12 mental component summary score changes (P = 0.674) between women with and without SMM. However, women with SMM scored significantly lower on a general health perceptions subscale at 1-month (P = 0.031), role limitations due to physical health subscale at 6-month (P = 0.019), vitality subscale at 1-month (P = 0.007) and 6-month (P = 0.008), and role limitations due to emotional problems subscales at 6-month (P = 0.008). Conclusions Women with severe maternal morbidity demonstrated comparable quality of life during the 6-month postpartum period compared to women without severe maternal morbidity

Effect of sample treatment methods for PAH4 determination in cocoa

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carcinogenic and some have been reported to be present in cocoa. Therefore, PAHs determination in cocoa is very important. In this study, a simple procedures based on maceration extraction, solid phase extraction (SPE), saponification and high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) were presented for rapid PAH4 (sum of four different PAHs; benzo (a) anthracene, chrysene, benzo (b) fluoranthene, and benzo (a) pyrene) determination in cocoa samples (cocoa bean, cocoa nib and cocoa shell). The effect of using different sample extractions (different type of solvents and extraction time) and purification methods (different SPE treatments) were investigated. The most satisfactory recoveries (59.83 – 116.99% at concentration levels; 1.00, 5.00 and 10.00 µ/kg) and clean extracts were obtained by extracting the cocoa samples (cocoa nib, cocoa shell and whole cocoa bean) with hexane for two hours and purification with SPE using silica cartridge (cyclohexane as elution solvent). In this study, detection limit was in the range of 3.36 – 13.90 ng/kg thus, the method meets the Commission Regulation (EU) No. 836/2011 and may be useful to be applied for assessment of cocoa beans quality

Composition, color and antioxidant properties of cocoa shell at different roasting temperatures

Cocoa shell is underexploited and is considered as waste. However, roasting cocoa is a fundamental step in producing cocoa products. Composition of the cocoa shell depends on the origin whereas cocoa processing involves fermentation, drying and roasting. However, scarce research has been conducted to analyze the composition of Malaysian cocoa shells at different roasting temperatures. Therefore, this research aims to determine the effect of different roasting temperatures (110, 120, 130, 140 and 150°C) on the proximate composition, colour and antioxidant activity of cocoa shell. Changes in antioxidant activity and polyphenol content were recorded. Fiber and moisture content were significantly (p<0.05) higher in unroasted cocoa shell. However, the protein was found to decrease significantly (p<0.05) after roasting at 150°C (10.93%). Fat content was found higher in roasted cocoa shell at 150°C (6.82%) compared to the unroasted cocoa shell (6.09%). The colour (L value) recorded significantly (p<0.05). the highest for unroasted cocoa shell (51.28) and the lowest at 150°C (47.93), DPPH radical scavenging activity of ethanolic extract of cocoa shell was significantly (p<0.05) higher in 0% ethanol concentration compared to other ethanol concentrations (20, 50, 80 and 100%). The roasted cocoa shell may be considered as a source of natural antioxidants for functional food development and intermediate food ingredient

Effect of pressure and temperature on fatty acids profiles of coconut oil fractionated by supercritical fluid extraction

Coconut oil (CNO) can be fractionated to obtain fraction which is useful for confectionery products. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has been widely used in the fractionation of oil. The effects of pressure and temperature on the yields and fatty acids profiles of coconut oil fractionated by supercritical fluid extraction were investigated. The fractionation was carried out at pressure 20.7, 34.5 and 48.3MPa and temperature 40, 60 and 80°C respectively. The fractionation was performed for 40 minutes and the oil was collected in four fractions at the end of every 10 min which denoted as F1, F2, F3 and F4. The highest yield (63.80%±1.70) was obtained in F1 at highest pressure and temperature, 48.3MPa and 80°C. The short and medium chain fatty acids (C8-C14) decreased slightly from F1 to F4. Meanwhile, the long chain of fatty acids (C16-C18:2) increase from F1 to F4. F4 fractionated at pressure 48.3 MPa and temperature 80°C has the lowest C12 (53.06%). In otherwise, the C18:0, C18:1 and C18:2 have increased three times from the first fractions which are 4.99%, 17.44% and 4.22% respectively. This fraction which has the lowest lauric acids and highest amount of long chain fatty acids may be useful to be applied as cocoa butter substitute

Fractionation of coconut oil via supercritical fluid extraction for production of cocoa butter substitute

Coconut oil (CNO) is a vegetable fat that can be applied as a cocoa butter substitute (CBS) due to its similar physical characteristics to cocoa butter. However, it must be fractionated or hydrogenated to be used as CBS. The aims of the present work was to fractionate CNO using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), and determine the potential fraction which is suitable as CBS. CNO was fractionated by SFE at 48.3 MPa and 80°C into four different fractions, F1, F2, F3 and F4. Fraction 1 had the highest yield (48.9%) as compared to the other fractions. Fraction 4 had the lowest content of lauric acid, C12 (31.12%) and the highest amount of palmitic acid, C16 (16.43%); stearic acid, C18:0 (4.99%); and linoleic acid, C18:1 (17.44%). Fraction 4 also had the highest melting profile (25.24°C) and amount of solid fat content (state) closest to CB. Therefore, F4 was selected as a potential fraction for the application of CBS. This finding reveals that CNO can be fractionated by SFE and applied as CBS to help diversify the application of coconut products