Coconut Flour (Cocos nucifera L.) as a Partial Replacement in Wheat Flour (Triticum aestivum)-Based Tortillas and Its Effect on Dough Rheology and Tortilla Quality

Wheat-flour (WF) tortillas are among the popular flatbreads used in northern Mexico to prepare 'burritos', which are widely accepted in the USA and other countries but have low nutritional quality. Therefore, to increase the protein and fiber contents, we replaced 10 or 20% of the WF with coconut (Cocos nucifera, variety Alto Saladita) flour (CF) and evaluated the effects on the dough rheology and quality of the composite tortillas. There were differences in the optimum mixing times among the doughs. The protein, fat, and ash contents of the tortillas increased (p < 0.05) with increasing CF content. The carbohydrate content was unchanged (p > 0.05), but the 20% CF tortillas contained more fiber than the control tortilla. Tortilla firmness increased (p < 0.05) and extensibility decreased (p < 0.05) with increasing CF content. The 80:20 blended tortillas showed the highest firmness (7.9 N), whereas the control and 90:10 blended tortillas did not differ (p > 0.05) in firmness. There were no differences (p > 0.05) in extensibility between the composite tortillas. The physicochemical properties of the tortillas indicated that the 20% CF-containing tortilla was a more nutritious option to the wheat flour tortilla due to its higher dietary fiber and protein contents, in addition to the slight reduction seen in extensibility compared to the WF tortilla.

Probing nutritional and functional properties of salted noodles supplemented with ripen Banana peel powder

Banana peel is appreciated for higher dietary fiber, phenolics, flavonoid contents, and minerals (particularly iron, calcium, and potassium), despite being a waste product. After drying, it can be processed into powder/flour to be combined with wheat flour (WF) for development of value-added products. In this study, we substituted WF with banana peel powder (BPP) at supplementation rates of 5, 10, and 15%, and evaluated their suitability to develop salted noodles. The results showed that the composite flour with 15% BPP had significantly higher protein, ash, and crude fiber content as compared to control. Higher antioxidant capacity was observed in composite flour noodles: total phenolics content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), ferric reducing power (FRAP) and DPPH reducing power were increased up to 278, 260, 143 and 13 percent respectively in the noodles containing 15% BPP as compared to control (100% WF). On the other hand, values for viscosity decreased up to 22% with addition of BPP in WF. Furthermore, water absorption capacity and cooking losses were increased up to 15 and 13 percent respectively with 15% BPP incorporation in WF. Results for sensory evaluation demonstrated that noodles with 10% BPP scored highest for sensory profile.

Graphical abstract

Influence of almond and coconut flours on Ketogenic, Gluten-Free cupcakes

Ketogenic, gluten-free cupcakes containing varying amounts of almond and coconut flours were evaluated for textural and sensory attributes. Coconut-flour particle-size influenced cupcake volume and crumb structure, with smaller flour-particle size resulting in increased volume and decreased crumb density. Although almond-flour particle size itself did not directly influence cupcake properties, volume increases were observed in cupcakes with higher percentages of almond flour. Addition of coconut flour increased cell size and decreased cell density. Mechanical testing showed almond flour resulted in a cupcake that was more tender. Adhesion and cohesion values showed no statistical difference after 24 h and minimal change at subsequent evaluation periods. Quantitative descriptive analysis and consumer acceptance evaluation indicated that cupcakes containing almond flour were more moist and tender, and were preferred over cupcakes made with only coconut flour. Almond and coconut flours may be used in gluten-free, ketogenic cupcakes, with almond flour performing better in evaluated parameters.

Effect of Coconut and Chestnut Flour Supplementations on Texture, Nutritional and Sensory Properties of Baked Wheat Based Bread

Wheat bread, produced by the single-phase method, is a common food consumed all over the world. Due to changes in lifestyle and nutritional trends, alternative raw materials are sought to increase the nutritional value and improve the taste of daily consumed products. Additionally, customers seek a wide variety of foods, especially when it comes to basic foods. Nuts, such as coconuts or chestnuts, might provide an attractive flavour with benefits to the nutritional quality. In this study, the effect of substituting wheat flour with coconut or chestnut flour (flour contribution level: 5, 10, 15, 30, 50% w/w), was evaluated in terms of the breads specific volume, texture, colour, nutritional composition, and dietary fibre fraction contents. Moreover, a sensory evaluation was conducted to assess potential consumer acceptance. Based on the consumer's perception, the overall acceptance of bread with 15% w/w of coconut and chestnut flour was in privilege compared to the control sample. As a result, taking all of the tested parameters into account, the breads with 5, 10, and 15% supplementation of chestnut or coconut flour were still of good quality compared to the wheat bread and their fibre content was significantly higher.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE RECIPE COMPOSITION OF SPECIAL-PURPOSE GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

The paper considers how gluten-free flours, in particular, those made from coconuts and brown rice, can be used in  the  technology of gluten-free chocolate muffins in order to expand the  range of special purpose products. Studies by domestic and foreign authors dedicated to using different flour types in today’s gluten-free technologies have been analysed. It has been proved that wheat  flour  can be fully replaced with gluten-free flour mixtures in the recipe of chocolate muffins. Analysis of the chemical composition of  coconut flour has shown its higher fat content, compared with wheat flour, and twice as much protein and dietary fibre (18%). Coconut flour exceeds wheat flour not only in the main macronutrients, but also in the content of the main minerals. Brown rice flour, too, contains more fats and vitamins of the B-group than wheat flour does, and is a source of sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, and sulphur. It contains up to 80% of starch and, like coconut flour, is gluten-free. Replacing wheat flour in the classical muffin recipe with mixtures of coconut and brown rice flours in the ratios 30:70, 40:60, and 50:50 reduces the moisture content and density of the dough. The moisture content in the finished muffins, too, is lower by 0.7, 1.2, and 1.5% respectively. It has been confirmed that if the gluten-free flour mixture contains over 50% of coconut flour, it reduces the specific volume of resulting muffins and worsens their quality parameters. The Harrington method was used to estimate the comprehensive quality index of the chocolate muffins. This has shown that full substitution of wheat flour for a mixture of gluten- free flours in the ratio 40:60 (coconut flour:brown rice flour) allows achieving the best-balanced sensory characteristics. Gluten-free muffins have a pleasant brown colour of the crust, their crumb is quite soft, homogeneous, and porous, with a balanced taste and an aroma of cocoa combined with light coconut notes.

STUDY OF QUALITY OF SNACK GHERKIN TINNED FOOD

This work considers a problem of raising a marinade quality for producing snack gherkin tinned food. There is offered a new way for raising a marinade food value. The aim of the work is to raise a tinned food quality at the expanse of recipe peculiarities of ingredients. There is offered to produce snack tinned food with adding mustard. The tinned food contains gherkin, sugar refined sunflower oil, kitchen vinegar 9 %, salt, dry mustard, grinded red pepper and chopped garlic. An optimal recipe for diminishing mass consumption of the raw materials is developed in the study. The tinned food recipe was modeled by the simplex method that allowed to get an optimal variant with a maximal complex quality parameter. According to the recipe, a bank of І-82-500 needs: gherkin – 375 g, sugar – 37.5 g, refined sunflower oil – 37.5 g., kitchen vinegar 9 % – 37.75 g, salt – 3.75 g, garlic – 3.75 g, mustard (powder) – 3.75 g, grinded red pepper – 1 g. It is established, that the new snack tinned food is characterized by high organoleptic properties. The technological scheme at producing the snack tinned food “Pickled gherkins with mustard” includes the following processes: preparation of the raw materials (cleaning, sorting), soaking in cold water for 5–8 hours; inspection; pouring with marinade; mixing and infusion; packing; closing; sterilization, formation of ready products. Gherkins are processed by the standard technology for pickled vegetables. Physical-chemical parameters in the raw materials and ready products were studied during the work: the content of soluble dry substances – by the refractometric method; the total content of organic acids – by titration; рН-medium – by the potentiometric method; the content of nitrates – by the ionometric method. Mustard was added for raising a food value and quality of the snack tinned food. It is healthy, because it improves the appetite, disintegrates fats and facilitates digestion of protein meals, at that activating metabolism. Main healthy properties of mustard are antimicrobial, antifungal, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Added spices and garlic give a pleasant taste and add the composition of mineral substances. The developed recipe is designed for production technological lines and recommended for implementation at processing enterprises. The conducted work testifies to the expedience of producing new types of snack tinned food, which food value is increased and organoleptic parameters are improved at the expanse of ingredients.

Coconut meal: Nutraceutical importance and food industry application

In tropical regions coconut is the tree of great significance: it provides millions of people with food, employment, and business opportunities. The fruit is referred to as ‘miracle fruit’ due to its inherent rich profile of macro- and micro-nutrients for human nutrition and health. Different products, such as coconut water, milk, raw kernels, oil and desiccated coconut are commercially processed. Coconut flour is a byproduct of coconut milk and oil industry which is made from coconut meal leftover after processing. Being a rich source of dietary fibre and protein, it has found numerous applications in different functional foods. Coconut flour can be successfully incorporated into various food products, such as bakery, extruded products, snacks, and sweets. It has antidiabetic and anticancer effects, prevents cardiovascular diseases, and improves immune function. Coconut flour is also gluten-free and its nutritional composition is quite comparable to that of wheat flour. Gluten-free food products enriched with coconut flour are a healthy and viable option for the people with celiac disease. In this paper, we summarised the present use of coconut flour. There is an apparent need to convert the food processing byproducts into functional ingredients in order to implement their environment-friendly and efficient utilisation.

DEVELOPMENT OF RECIPES AND ESTIMATION OF RAW MATERIAL FOR PRODUCTION OF WHEAT BREAD

The study of technological parameters of Midas wheat flour and possibility to use little-spread plants at wheat bread manufacturing was realized. Parameters and regimes for keeping and baking bread of new recipes were elaborated and selected. The elaborated method of bread manufacturing by new recipes relates to the field of agriculture and food industry and may be used at a laboratory baking of bread. There was experimentally grounded and introduced the change of a part of recipe quantity of wheat flour for dried and comminuted plants of Népeta mussinii L., Polymnia osotolysta L., Amaranthus tricolor L., Cosmos sulphureus L., Tanacetum parthenium L., Cyperus esculentus L., Physalis tomentous L. at baking bread. According to determined physical-chemical, organoleptic parameters of bread, a possibility of baking bread using plants was proved. The expedience of introducing vegetable additives of Népeta mussinii L., Polymnia osotolysta L., Amaranthus tricolor L., Tanacetum parthenium into wheat dough in the dose no more than 5 % to the flour mass; up to 10 % – Cosmos sulphureus L and up to 15 % – Cyperus esculentus L., Physalis tomentous L was proved. At these very dosages bread had an evenly colored crust, without breaks and cracks, elastic crumb, thin-walled porosity, expressed bread taste and pleasant smell of additives as opposite to other experimental samples.

Substitution of wheat with cassava starch

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the effects of substituting durum wheat semolina (DWS) with high-quality cassava starch (HQCS) in macaroni noodle production.

Design/methodology/approach

The effect of substituting semolina with cassava starch in macaroni production at six levels, namely, 0, 20, 30, 50, 70, 100 per cent, and variation in hydration levels of 45, 50 and 55 per cent and their interaction were studied.

Findings

As substitution of DWS with HQCS increased from 0 to 50 per cent at 45 per cent hydration, amylose content increased from 15.91 to 22.79 per cent. However, beyond 50 per cent substitution level, the amylose content dropped significantly to 20.10 per cent. Yet, this reduction did not affect the extrusion ability of the doughs. Analysis of variance revealed that changes observed in the dough properties were not significant (p > 0.05).

Research limitations/implications

Trial productions of cassava macaroni noodles under factory processing conditions need to be explored. Also, cooking trials and consumer acceptability studies need to be conducted to pave the way for adoption by manufacturers.

Practical implications

Dried noodle products enjoy widespread popularity because of their shelf life, lower glycaemic indices, simplicity of preparation and moderate costs. This study showed the potential of substituting DWS with HQCS with no adverse effect on the dough and macaroni noodle characteristics.

Social implications

The adoption of the process described in this study would result in increased utilization of cassava, broaden existing food base and provide household food security for both rural and urban population.

Originality/value

This paper has shown the suitability of substituting DWS obtained from imported durum wheat, with HQCS: indigenous to Africa, for the economic benefit of macaroni manufacturers.

Moisture Dependent Dynamic Flow Properties of Coconut Flours

The dynamic flow properties of two important coproducts of virgin coconut oil (VCO) i. e. coconut milk residue flour (MRF) and VCO cake flour (CF) were studied. The basic flowability energy of CF was higher than MRF and increased with moisture content. The change in compressibility and shear stress, with applied normal stress and moisture content, indicated that these powders are highly cohesive. For both flours, the energy required to make the powder flow increased with moisture at all experimental air velocity. Moisture did not significantly influence the cohesion and unconfined yield strength of MRF, whereas for CF there was significant effect due to the presence of moisture. The wall friction angle of both the flours increased significantly with moisture and decreased with applied normal stress. The results from this study indicated that, both CF and MRF at around 4.00 % moisture content had better flow characteristics than at higher moisture levels.

Effect of virgin coconut meal (VCM) on the rheological, micro-structure and baking properties of cake and batter

Virgin coconut meal (VCM) cakes were prepared by replacing refined wheat flour (maida) (5 to 20 % level) to check its effect on chemical, textural and rheological attributes of cake. The addition of VCM significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased redness (a*), yellowness (b*) while reduced lightness (L*) of cakes. The incorporation of VCM affects the hardness, adhesiveness gumminess and chewiness of cake. The effect of flour replacement with VCM increased the viscosity of batter which leads to increase in consistency index and lower the shearthining behavior. The viscoelastic behavior of cake batter in which elastic modulus (G') and viscous modulus (G") both were decreased with the increase in percentage of VCM. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis revealed that the onset (To), end set (Tc) and enthalpy of gelatinization (ΔH) increased with the increased level of VCM.

Chemical and functional properties of cassava starch, durum wheat semolina flour, and their blends

High-quality cassava starch (HQCS) produced from high-yielding low-cyanide improved cassava variety, TMS 30572, was mixed with durum wheat semolina (DWS) on a replacement basis to produce flour samples containing 0, 20, 30, 50, 70, and 100% cassava starch. They were analyzed for chemical composition (proximate, amylose, free sugars, starch, wet gluten, and cyanide) and functional properties (pasting, swelling power, solubility, water absorption, water binding, starch damage, diastatic and α-amylase activity, dough mixing, and stability). Protein, carbohydrate, fat, and ash of flour samples ranged from 0.75-12.31%, 70.87-87.80%, 0.95-4.41%, and 0.12-0.83%, respectively. Cyanide levels in all the flour samples were less than 0.1 ppm. Amylose content varied between 19.49% for cassava and 28.19% for wheat, correlating significantly with protein (r = 0.95, P = 0.004) and ash contents (r = 0.92, P = 0.01) at 5%. DWS and HQCS had similar pasting temperatures (50.2-53°C), while other pasting properties increased with increasing levels of HQCS. Dough mixing stability of samples decreased with increasing levels of HQCS. All the flour samples had α-amylase activity greater than 200. Both HQCS and DWS compare favorably well in swelling power (7.80-9.01%); but the solubility of wheat starch doubled that of cassava. Starch damage varied between 3.3 and 7.2 AACC for semolina and starch, with the latter having higher absorption rate (97%), and the former, higher absorption speed (67 sec). Results obtained showed positive insight into cassava-wheat blend characteristics. Data thus generated provide additional opportunities of exploiting cassava utilization and hence boost its value-addition potentials for product development.