Search

The article discusses a study on the influence of particle-size distribution of cowpea flours on the quality of fried cowpea paste, or akara. The research produced akara with quality similar to the traditional West African wet-milled product by matching particle-size distribution and blending of cowpea paste derived from dry milled seeds. Akara, with quality comparable to the traditionally prepared fried cowpea paste, can be prepared using cowpea from various milling and blending conditions.

Wet-milling of soaked, decorticated cowpeas generated large amounts of coarse cell wall material (CWM) and soluble protein (SP). CWM with high water-holding and swelling capacities contributed to excellent paste hydration and flow properties; high SP and paste viscosity resulted in superior foaming characteristics. In hydrated cowpea meal, the presence of coarse cellular material adversely affected paste hydration and flow characteristics; low SP and viscosity resulted in poor foaming. Wet-milling of hydrated meal improved viscosity and functionality. Intense dry-milling increased SP but adversely affected paste viscosity and functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Akara, deep-fat fried cowpea paste, is a very popular snack and breakfast food in Africa. Traditional cowpea paste processed by wet-milling of soaked, decorticated seeds exhibited excellent foaming ability, high waterholding capacities (WHC), and low hardness value for akara. Intense dry-milling that generated a fine flour adversely affected its functionality and akara-making quality. Wet-milling of hydrated cowpea meal significantly improved its foamability (as indicated by reduction in specific gravity) and WHC but showed only a marginal improvement in akara texture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacy of electrolyzed oxidizing (EO) and acidified chlorinated water (45 ppm residual chlorine) was evaluated in killing Escherichia coil O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes on lettuce. After surface inoculation, each leaf was immersed in 1.5 L of EO or acidified chlorinated water for 1 or 3 min at 22 °C. Compared to a water wash only, the EO water washes significantly decreased mean populations of E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes by 2.41 and 2.65 log10 CFU per lettuce leaf for 3 min treatments, respectively (p ≤ 0.05). However, the difference between the bactericidal activity of EO and acidified chlorinated waters was not significant (p ≥ 0.05). Change in the quality of lettuce subjected to the different wash treatments was not significant at the end of 2 wk of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies factors that determine effects on consumer acceptance of partially cooked, frozen, reheated akara of fried cowpea paste. Quality of akara reheated by different methods; Use of instrumental/chemical and sensory methods; Nutritional content of akara.

Evaluates the physical properties of food materials and assesses the importance in the development of freeze-cracking during cryogenic freezing. Susceptibility of various foods to freeze-cracking; Equations based on densities and porosities to predict freeze-cracking incidences.

Harvest date and maturity (by the Hull Scrape method) were compared to mechanical properties and chemical composition of peanuts. In general, later-harvested or mature peanuts exhibited higher cutting and shear-compression forces, shear-compression energy and slope of force-deformation curve than earlier-harvested or immature peanuts. Mesocarp color of peanuts could be used as an index to group peanuts with similar shear-compression energy (sensory crunchiness). Harvest date did not affect dry basis chemical composition except carbohydrates content decreased slightly as digging was delayed. Oil contentincreased and carbohydrates decreased as peanuts matured. Total unsaturated fatty acids content increased with maturity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of freezing (still-air, air-blast, and Freon immersion freezing) and frozen storage (-5°, -10° and -15°C for 0 to 48 wk) on texture of cooked frozen peas were examined. Peas frozen by a Freon-12 immersion method with no appreciable damage to cell structure had firmer and more chewy sensory textural quality compared to those peas frozen by a slower freezing method. Sensory tenderness decreased initially and then increased with storage time to the maximum storage times of 6 wk in -5°C storage, 16 wk in -10°C storage, and 48 wk in -15°C storage. Sensory chewiness increased initially, then remained constant with storage time except in -15°C storage. Generally, the lower storage temperature resulted in less sensory chewiness. The correlation coefficients (r) between sensory and objective measurements for tenderness and chewiness were 0.76 and 0.88 (P < 0.05), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pretreatment process developed to prepare cowpeas for mechanical decortication by dry abrasion involves wetting, equilibrating, and drying. Drying temperatures of .50°C, 70°C, 90°C, 110°C, and 130°C affected the microstructure of cowpea seeds, meal and akara (fried cowpea paste). Severe heat treatment damaged the middle lamella of cotyledon cells, changed the birefringence property of starch granules, reduced the amount of air incorporated in whipped paste and produced akara with a nonuniform, dense structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BSTRACT Whipped cowpea pastes were held at room temperature (20°C) for 0, 30, 60, 120, and 240 min before preparation of akara (fried cowpea paste). Apparent viscosity of whipped paste was measured at different shear rates (0.17, 0.34, 0.85, 1.70, 3.40, 6.80, and 17.00 sec−1). At any given shear rate, paste became more viscous with increasing holding time. Akara became darker and less yellow in color as paste holding time increased. Akara made from paste held 120 min or longer had an unacceptably dense, firm texture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moin-moin is steamed cowpea paste native to Nigeria. This product is classified as a protein/starch gel with the dominate portion of the gel network consisting of cowpea starch. Moin-moin was prepared from starting materials (cowpea meal and cowpea flour) and compared to moin-moin prepared from dry, whole, undecorticated cowpea seeds. Texture profile measurements showed that moin-moin made from cowpea flour (small particle size) formed a firmer structure when compared to moin-moin made from either cowpea meal or whole, dry cowpea seeds. Starting materials with smaller particle sizes and longer cooking times produced stickier moin-moin. The cowpea solids to water ratio was shown to affect the firmness of moin-moin, where a 3.75:1 ratio of solids to water produced a firmer product than other concentrations. Generally, color was unaffected across treatment regimens as identified by an expert sensory panel, although instrumental color measurements showed significant differences for hue angle and chroma. This study demonstrated that the particle size of this food ingredient contributes significantly to its functionality in food formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]