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BACKGROUND: Kenaf seeds are underutilized kenaf plant by‐products, containing essential nutrients including dietary fiber (DF), which can be potentially utilized as food ingredients. The present study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics of kenaf seed fiber fractions extracted from kenaf seed. RESULTS: Defatted kenaf seed powder yielded four DF fractions: alkali‐soluble hemicellulose (146.4 g kg−1), calcium‐bound pectin (10.3 g kg−1) and acid‐soluble pectin (25.4 g kg−1) made up the soluble fibre fraction, whereas cellulose (202.2 g kg−1) comprised the insoluble fraction. All fractions were evaluated for their physicochemical properties. The DF fractions contained glucose, mannose, xylose and arabinose, and a small amount of uronic acid (1.2–2.7 g kg−1). The isolated pectin fractions had a low degree of esterification (14–30%). All the isolated DF fractions had high average molecular weights ranging from 0.3 to 4.3 × 106 g mol−1. X‐ray diffractogram analysis revealed that the fractions consisted mainly of an amorphous structure with a relative crystallinity ranging from 31.6% to 44.1%. The Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy spectrum of kenaf seed and its DF fractions showed typical absorption of polysaccharides, with the presence of hydroxyl, carboxyl, acetyl and methyl groups. Scanning electron microscopy analysis demonstrated that the raw material with the rigid structure resulted in soluble and insoluble DF fractions with more fragile and fibrous appearances, respectively. The soluble DF demonstrated greater flowability and compressibility than the insoluble fractions. CONCLUSION: These findings provide novel information on the DF fractions of kenaf seeds, which could be used as a potential new DF for the food industry. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Meat has historically been an essential source of animal‐based protein. However, due to population growth, health problems linked to the consumption of red meat, and concerns over environmental challenges, there is an increased need for alternative protein sources. Various plant‐based meat alternatives have recently been explored, with ongoing advancements in industrial‐scale production. Mycoprotein has been proposed as a sustainable alternative to meat due to its distinctive functional food properties and fibrous structure. However, some challenges still prevail related to large‐scale production, texture, sustainability, and acceptability of mycoprotein products. This review paper provides a comprehensive overview of scientific research on mycoprotein, focusing on nutritional composition, functional properties, production technology, and health benefits. This study also examines the current challenges related to product safety, environmental impact, and prospects of this innovative food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Tofu was made by substituting kenaf seed (K) with soybean (S) at 100 (positive control), 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10% and 0% (negative control). The results indicated that kenaf seed substitution at all ratios significantly increased the soluble solids and protein content of the milky extracts. The yield, moisture and protein content of the tofu were significantly increased with the increase in kenaf seed substitution, while the lipid content was significantly decreased. The tofu made with kenaf seed substitution of 50%, 40% and 30% had the same protein content (43.76–45.36 g/100 g) with the positive control (45.36 g/100 g), but a significantly higher lipid content (32.00–35.75 g/100 g) than that of the positive control (27.50 g/100 g). The microstructure of the tofu revealed that only the positive control had a honey‐comb structure, whilst the tofu made from kenaf seed‐soybean blends had a pseudo‐honey like structure. Up to 30% of soybean can be added into the kenaf‐based tofu, without any negative effect on the textural and colour properties and, protein content, but significantly improved the essential amino acids content of the kenaf‐based tofu. Therefore, the blend of 70K:30S ratio using 0.5 g% glucono delta‐lactone as a coagulant is recommended to produce kenaf seed‐soybean tofu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Kenaf seed gum (KSG) is a novel potential hydrocolloid extracted from kenaf seed. The physicochemical and functional characteristics of KSG were compared with guar gum (GG) and locust bean gum (LBG). The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of KSG revealed representative peaks of polysaccharides in the regions of 3272, 2923, 1744, 1623, 1448 and 1082 cm‐1. The X‐ray diffraction (XRD) patterns displayed an amorphous structure of KSG, similar to other commercial gums. Based on the morphological evaluation, the gums exhibit a smooth surface microstructure. Furthermore, the KSG has comparable functional characteristics as GG and LBG in terms of water solubility, oil‐holding capacity, emulsion capacity and foaming capacity. This study provides basic information for exploring KSG as non‐conventional seed gum with the potential for further utilisation in the food and non‐food industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Easily perishable soursop (Annona muricata L.) fruit was converted into powder for value‐addition. Soursop puree obtained from fruit pulp that had been treated with different concentrations (0–2% v/w) of Celluclast 1.5 L at fixed (1.5% v/w) concentration of Pectinase Ultra SP‐L were spray‐dried at various inlet temperatures (130–160 °C) after mixing the puree with maltodextrin (20–40% w/w). Multiple responses optimization from Response Surface Methodology (RSM) indicated puree that was pretreated with 1.3% (v/w) cellulase and incorporated with 37% w/w maltodextrin and spray‐dried at an inlet temperature of 156 °C could be transformed into powder that had the following physicochemical properties: moisture content, 2.03% (wb); Aw, 0.18; hygroscopicity, 29.02 g/100g; stickiness, 173.02 g and yield 70.56% of powder. The glass transition temperature (Tg) was found to range between 46.53 and 58.25 °C, indicating the spray‐dried powder was an amorphous material. Surface morphology of the powder particles, viewed using Scanning Electron Microscopy, showed they exhibited spherical in shape and possessed a continuous wall (crust) without surface cracks. Practical applications: This work offers an alternative way of reducing wastage in soursop plantation due to short shelf life and perishable properties of soursop fruit. Soursop fruit was transformed to soursop puree without the addition of water by enzymatic–liquefaction. The soursop puree produced by enzymatic pretreatment is suitable to be used as spray drying feed as the puree produced is smooth. This is significant especially to the food processing industry to understand the potential application of enzyme in pretreatment step to liquefy and reduce the viscosity in the production of puree instead of using conventional method (addition of water). Soursop powder was produced by spray drying which is a commercial method in the production of fruit powder. This indicates it is feasible with the spray drying to produce soursop powder that exhibited amorphous particle characteristic. Production of soursop powder also broadens its potential applications in food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Effects of different rice starch‐based coating formulations on physical properties of walnut were studied during 20 days storage at accelerated temperature. Results from different starch films indicated there were nonsignificant differences in water and oxygen barrier properties of the starch films. However, significant (p ≤ .05) differences were present in the elongation at break characteristics between the corn and rice films. Tensile strength varied significantly between edible films made from rice starch with that of wheat and corn. Melting temperature (Tm) of wheat and corn starch films was higher than rice starch films (152.77 °C). Thus, rice starch in combination with different additives such as chitosan, emulsifier, and red palm oil, which improve the properties of rice starches have been chosen to coat dried walnut kernels. The coated walnuts were significantly (p ≤ .05) lighter than the control group. Results on different functional ingredients also showed significant variations, for example; yellowness of walnut in the presence of chitosan was lower among the coating formulas (p ≥ .05). However, the variations in textural characteristics of walnuts with different coating formulas remained nonsignificant (p > .05). Practical applications: Rice based edible coating added with chitosan can be used to extend the shelf life of walnut kernels. These coated walnuts can be safely distributed or sold in tropical countries where the surrounding relative humidity and temperature is high. Edible coating serves as a barrier which reduces the effect of oxygen, moisture and temperature (most important factors of rancidity) on nuts. The application of starch‐based coating for walnuts will also help to reduce storage space as removing the husk (green layer) and shell of walnuts (wooden layer) results in less space requirements. Furthermore, the coated walnuts can be stored at room temperature and requirement for refrigerated system can be eliminated, hence the cost of storage is minimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Celiac is the second most important issue in food sensitivities. The only treatment for celiac is a lifetime avoidance of consuming gluten. As pretzels are one of the most popular snacks in the world, making gluten-free pretzels is a market need. To produce gluten-free products, it is important to optimize the ingredients of the formulation. This research focused on optimization of the leavening agents of the most popular commercial hard pretzel formulation in which wheat flour is replaced with brewer's rice flour. This research also attempts to explain the effect of leavening agents in products containing no matrix molecules such as gluten. Response surface methodology via the central composite design was used to optimize the effects of yeast and bicarbonate of soda on the hardness (cutting strength), fracturability (brittleness), surface color, lateral expansion, expansion ratio, specific length, density (bulk, particle, material), porosity (open, close, total), water absorption index, water solubility index, water holding capacity, oil absorption index and oil holding capacity of gluten-free hard pretzel. The optimized results indicated that the gluten-free pretzel requires 8.05g yeast and 2.59g bicarbonate of soda for every 500g of brewer's rice flour. Practical Applications The study investigated the effect of leavening agents (yeast and sodium bicarbonate) which are critical ingredients affecting the quality characteristics, consumer preference and palatability of gluten-free hard pretzel when typical soft wheat flour was replaced with a gluten-free flour like rice or brewer's rice flour. The result guides the gluten-free industries on the importance of using the suitable amount of leavening agents for production of acceptable physicochemical and textural properties of not only hard pretzel, but also for other low moisture cereal products as well. The findings also introduce the usage of brewer's rice, a by-product of rice milling industry as one of the ingredients for the production of value-added products for all consumers' especially the celiac sufferers who need to find more reasonable price products compared to gluten ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined the effects of blend of 80% canola oil and 20% palm oil (BCPO) on nutrient intake and digestibility, growth performance, rumen fermentation and fatty acids (FA) in goats. Twenty-four Boer bucks were randomly assigned to diets containing 0, 4 and 8% BCPO on a dry matter basis, fed for 100 days and slaughtered. Diet did not affect feed efficiency, growth performance, intake and digestibility of all nutrients except ether extract. Intakes and digestibilities of ether extract, unsaturated fatty acids (FA) and total FA were higher ( P < 0.05) while digestibility of C18:0 was lower ( P < 0.05) in oil-fed goats than the control goats. Total volatile FA, acetate, butyrate, acetate/propionate ratio and methane decreased ( P < 0.05) with increasing BCPO but propionate, NH3-N and rumen pH did not differ between diets. Ruminal concentration of C18:0, n-3 FA and total FA increased ( P < 0.05) while C12:0, C14:0, C15:0 and n-6 FA decreased with increasing BCPO. Analysis of the FA composition of Triceps brachii muscle showed that concentrations of C16:0, C14:0 and C18:2n-6 were lower ( P < 0.05) while C18:1n-9, C18:3n-3 and C20:5n-3 were higher in oil-fed goats compared with control goats. Dietary BCPO altered muscle lipids without having detrimental effects on nutrient intake and digestibility and growth performance in goats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, pistachio ( Pistacia vera L.) spread was prepared using pistachio paste, icing sugar, and red palm oil. Pistachio paste, pistachio spread without emulsifier, and pistachio spread with 1.5 % monoglycerides (Dimodan HP-M, Danisco, Malaysia) were investigated to determine their oxidative stability by subjecting them to accelerated autoxidation conditions (60 °C). Pistachio paste and pistachio spread exhibit a great susceptibility to lipid oxidation due to their high-fat content. However, it was found that the high oleic and palmitic contents of the oil increase its stability. In all the pistachio products examined, Totox values were higher than 10 (the maximum permitted level) after 25 days of storage. In none of the products was ( E, E)-2,4-decadienal detected on day 0. After 25 days of storage, however, the peak area percentages rose to 0.13, 0.19, and 0.18 in pistachio paste, pistachio spread without emulsifier, and pistachio spread with emulsifier, respectively. Based on color investigations, the a value (i.e., less greenish) was increased in all the pistachio samples at the end of the storage period. Based on the results obtained from sensory evaluations as well as GC-MS, free fatty acid (FFA), and color measurements, it may be concluded that the shelf life of pistachio products is 20 days at 60 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice noodles, which are widely consumed noodles in Southeast Asia, were evaluated as a potential carrier for fortificants such as vitamin A, folic acid, and iron. Because flour particle size was found to affect the noodle properties, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of five different particle sizes (≤63, 80, 100, 125, and 140 µm) of dry‐milled rice flour on the cooking quality, microstructure, texture, and sensory characteristics of the rice noodles. The retention of fortificant in the noodles at every stage of processing as affected by the flour particle size was also determined. It was found that the rice noodles produced from flour with the smallest particle size studied (≤63 µm) had the best quality and were the most liked by the consumers. In addition, the noodles had the most compact and regular structure, which could be attributed to having the most severely gelatinized starch. This starch would have caused the least leaching of the fortificant into the surrounding water during the boiling stage of the rice noodle processing. Retention of iron in the cooked fortified rice noodles prepared from flour with the smallest particle size was high at around 87%, whereas that of vitamin A and folic acid were below 15%. Because the losses of the fortificant from the rice noodles were mostly owing to the boiling process, further improvements of the rice noodle processing conditions are required for reduction of the vitamin losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study appraised the effects of Carotino oil on in vitro rumen fermentation, gas production, metabolism and apparent biohydrogenation of oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids. Carotino oil was added to a basal diet (50% concentrate and 50% oil palm frond) at the rate of 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8% dry matter of the diet. Rumen inoculum was obtained from three fistulated Boer bucks and incubated with 200 mg of each treatment for 24 h at 39°C. Gas production, fermentation kinetics, in vitro organic matter digestibility ( IVOMD), volatile fatty acids ( VFA), in vitro dry matter digestibility ( IVDMD), metabolizable energy and free fatty acids were determined. Carotino oil did not affect ( P > 0.05) gas production, metabolizable energy, pH, IVOMD, IVDMD, methane, total and individual VFAs. However, Carotino oil decreased ( P < 0.05) the biohydrogenation of linoleic and linolenic acids but enhanced ( P < 0.05) the biohydrogenation of oleic acid. After 24 h incubation, the concentrations of stearic, palmitic, pentadecanoic, myristic, myristoleic and lauric acids decreased ( P < 0.05) while the concentration of linolenic, linoleic, oleic and transvaccenic acids and conjugated linoleic acid ( CLAc9t11) increased ( P < 0.05) with increasing levels of Carotino oil. Carotino oil seems to enhance the accumulation of beneficial unsaturated fatty acids without disrupting rumen fermentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pistachio nut ( Pistacia vera L.) is one of the most delicious and nutritious nuts in the world. In this study, monoglycerides (0.0-1.5 %) as lipophilic emulsifiers were used to prevent oil separation in pistachio spread A (containing 50.0 % pistachio paste, 30.0 % icing sugar and 20.0 % red palm oil) and B (containing 58.3 % pistachio paste, 25.0 % icing sugar and 16.7 % red palm oil). Changes in rheological behavior of pistachio spreads were investigated. The highest work of shear (which indicates spreadability) was observed in Formulations A and B containing 1.5 % monoglycerides. Addition of emulsifier significantly ( P < 0.05) influenced the consistency index ( K), thixotropic area ( A), yield stress ( τ) and coefficient correlation ( R) of pistachio spreads. All the pistachio spreads that contained emulsifier exhibited a higher storage modulus ( G′) than the loss modulus ( G″). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The moisture sorption isotherm (MSI) and shelf lives of soursop powders that had been incorporated with two commercial anticaking agents, calcium silicate (CS) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP), and inserted into aluminum laminated polyethylene pouches under room (RT, 25 ± 1°C) and elevated (ET, 38 ± 1°C) temperature, maintained at 93 ± 1% RH, were investigated. The powder possessed a Type III Brunauer's classification isotherm curve. The monolayer moisture content (Mo) was 0.023 ± 0.001 g H2O/g ds. A combination of low mean relative percent deviation modulus, E (2.18–3.75%), small sum of square residual, SSR (1.03 × 10−5–8.51 × 10−6), and high coefficient of determination (R2 > .99) indicating the moisture sorption data was sufficiently good fit using GAB model. Powder without anticaking agent stored at ET has the shortest estimated shelf life (~86 days) while 1.0 g/100 g TCP stored at RT exhibited the longest shelf life (~316 days). This study demonstrated that the incorporation of anticaking agents is effective to maintain the quality of powder by extending the shelf life by lowering moisture adsorption. The acceptability of reconstituted soursop powder based on hedonic test showed the scores for all attributes were higher than six. Practical applications: Up to date, limited information describes the preservative effect of anticaking agents throughout the storage period. Hence, this work provides an insight to look into detail of how the incorporation of anticaking agents improve or retain the quality of the dried powder especially the moisture sorption isotherm (MSI) behavior. To achieve this, enzymatic pre‐treated spray‐dried powder was incorporated with anticaking agent. MSI was carried out and the behavior was determined by fitting the data into Guggenheim–Anderson–de Boer (GAB) model. Prediction of shelf life was studied by considering the critical moisture content (Xc), which is the moisture content of powder that undergoes transition changed. The outcome of this work was expected to be beneficial to food powder industry to comprehend the protective effect of anticaking agents as a functional additive. Production of anticaking agent treated spray‐dried soursop powder was expected to broaden its potential applications as functional ingredient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purple sweet potato (PSP) is sensorially attractive and rich in a valuable source called "anthocyanins," but this tuberous crop is highly perishable. It is largely found in hot and humid countries, such as the South East Asia region. This study applied the drum drying technique to turn PSP into a shelf‐stable powder product, wherein an issue related to severe discolouration (browning) was identified. Hence, two moist‐heat pretreatments, namely boiling and steaming, were performed prior to drum drying. The effects of pretreatment on color changes, physicochemical, antioxidant, and resistant starch properties in the final product were analyzed. Both pretreatments had successfully retained the purplish color in the final product, in which steaming displayed better effects when compared with boiling in powder yield (243.02 g/100 g vs. 180.87 g/100 g), total anthocyanin content (121.71 mg/100 g vs. 83.72 mg/100 g), and resistant starch content (3.06 g/100 g vs. 2.53 g/100 g). The study outcomes demonstrated the capability of steaming in producing PSP powder that retained the original color and the health‐promoting compounds (i.e., anthocyanins and resistant starch), which appeared to be better than boiling, thus pretreatment on PSP prior to drum drying is highly recommended. Practical applications: This study successfully tackles the browning issue identified in purple sweet potato processing, via two simple and straightforward heating methods; boiling and steaming. The tuber is turned into a shelf‐stable, ready‐to‐use powder that acts as a thickener in soups, bakeries and fabricated snacks. The final powder product displays an attractive purplish color, exceptional functionality (in terms of water absorption capacity) and is loaded with health‐promoting compounds including antioxidant and resistant starch. These findings proved that moist‐heat treatments retain the purplish color, anthocyanins and resistant starch content in drum‐dried purple sweet potato powder well and provide additional health benefits besides acting as an ordinary food thickener. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]