Utilization of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standl.) pomace for the preparation of instant kheer (dessert) mix

Bottle gourd pomace, a waste from vegetable processing industry was used to prepare instant kheer (dessert) mix. In this study, the bottle gourd was procured from the farm, washed, grated, steam blanched and the grits were further divided into two parts. One part of grits was dried without juice extraction (BGFD- Bottle gourd fresh dried), while, the other half (BGPD- Bottle gourd pomace dried) was dehydrated after extraction of juice. The dehydrated grits were used for the preparation of kheer mix and the recipe was optimized using RSM Central Composite Design (CCD). The variables were BGFD and BGPD ranged 3-7 g. The other ingredients with the fixed quantities were milk powder (50 g), sugar (15 g), and small cardamom (1 g). The product was selected based on sensory responses like taste, colour, flavour, texture, and overall acceptability (OAA). The software suggested a kheer mix prepared using 7 g BGFD and 3 g BGPD will produce the best sensory scores. The prepared kheer mix had a moisture, TSS, carbohydrates, reducing sugars, total sugars, titratable acidity, crude protein, and crude fat content of 7.9%, 27 °B, 72.21%, 10.79%, 16.75%, 0.896% CA, 10.76%, and 7.63%, respectively. The product was rich in energy (400.55 kcal/100 g), total phenols (4.99 mg/100 g), and exhibited strong antioxidant activity (46%). The total plate count on the product on nutrient agar medium was 4.3 × 106 CFU/g. The kheer could be prepared by adding 140 mL of water to 70 g of water to kheer mix and cooking it for 10 min. Further, to see the credibility and obtain more clearer patterns, the Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were applied. The overall variation of the BGFD and BGPD on the sensory parameters based on canonical correlation analysis was 92.5%. The sum of Principal Components PC1 and PC2 explained a very high variability (98.2%) among the studied treatments.

Effect of household processing on nutritional and antinutritional composition, mineral-mineral ratios, and functional properties of Colocasia leaves

Colocasia leaves are high in nutrients and other phytochemicals but their utilization remains limited due to a lack of awareness. Higher content of anti-nutritional factors like oxalic and tannic acid in Colocasia leaves limit nutrient availability. In the present study, the effect of four household procedures viz. soaking (8-12 h), microwave heating (2-6 min), cooking (30-60 min), and blanching (1-3 min), followed by sun drying, was studied on the nutritional, antinutritional and functional properties of Colocasia leaves. A significant increase in crude fibre (25.7%-29.65%), and protein (4.33-15.6%) content was found in all the treatments except for the microwave treatment. A significant decrease in fat (5.7-31.4%), ash (20.34-28.22%), oxalic acid (27.07-35.32%), and tannic acid (up to 96%) was also found in various treatments. Among the minerals, a significant increase was reported for calcium (up to 16.38%), and iron (up to 5.9%). The highest mineral retention was found in soaked samples. The soaked and cooked samples also had a higher Ca: Mg ratio. A significant change in functional properties was also found. FTIR peaks suggested no significant qualitative effect occurred on phytochemical or physicochemical characteristics. Cluster analysis showed that cooking was second to soaking in terms of overall quality which were most comparable to the control. Cooking efficiently reduced the antinutritional factors, however, a significant loss of nutrients and functional properties was also observed. Therefore, the soaking of Colocasia leaves for 8-10 h is recommended as the best practice before their food applications.

Effect of maturation on wild apricot vermouth of different treatments

Wild apricot vermouths (WAV) of different sugar levels (8, 10 and 12 °Brix), different alcohol levels (15, 17 and 19%) and spice levels (2.5 and 5%) were prepared. The product was matured for six months and evaluated for physico- chemical characteristics at 0, 3 and 6 months of maturation. In general, ethyl alcohol content decreased in wild apricot vermouth of all treatments during maturation for six months, in proportion to their initial values. The decrease in TSS was revealed with the advancement of the storage period of six months. A similar trend was observed for total sugars with the advancement of the ageing period. The amount of reducing sugars, however, increased with the prolongation of the maturation period. The total esters content in WAV increased with the advancement of the ageing period, irrespective of their alcohol content. However, the volatile acidity showed a very little increase during ageing but remained non-significant among the different treatments. Total phenols content in WAV decreased by both the ageing period of six months and an increase in alcohol level. A non-significant increase in the titratable acidity with an ageing period was observed in all the WAV having different alcohol levels. The effect of spice extract levels added in the preparation of WAV showed that with the advancement of storage period total esters increased from 246.8 to 272.8 mg/L and 252.8 to 280.6 mg/L for WAV having 2.5 and 5% spices content, respectively. In brief, an overview of the entire results revealed that there was an interactive effect of alcohol level, the sugar level and the spice extract during maturation of wild apricot vermouth. It can be concluded that the maturation of WAV exerted a favourable effect on physico-chemical properties of wild apricot vermouth and is thus, considered desirable.

Functional and textural properties of Indian nuggets assorted with mushroom for lysine enrichment

Nuggets popularly known as warrian is the traditional household food item of India and prepared from black gram but deficit in essential amino acid, lysine. Present study conducted to prepare lysine enriched nuggets using white button mushrooms (WBM) that contain all the essential amino acids. Black gram paste was fortified with WBM 0 (T0) to 50 at 10 % increments (T1 to T5). Moisture, ash, crude protein and fat were increased in T0 to T5 ranged from 10.00 to 13.52 %, 4.00 to 4.18 %, 13.90 to 23.80 % and 0.37 to 1.00 %, respectively. The cooking weight, cooking losses and antioxidant activity (as DPPH) were increased with increase in WBM (lysine enrichment) in nuggets. In textural analysis, hardness decreased with increases fortification from 1.971 to 0.889 kg. Based on physico-chemical, cooking and textural properties, black gram to WBM ratio of 80: 20 was recommended.

Vermouth: technology of production and quality characteristics

The aperitif wine, known as vermouth, is primarily prepared by adding a mixture of herbs and spices or their extract to a base wine. As such, it could also be called aromatized liquor, or a fortified wine. Various plant parts, such as seeds, wood, leaves, bark, or roots in dry form can be used in flavoring. These additives may be infused, macerated, or distilled in a base white wine, or added at various stages of preparation. The final liquid is filtered, pasteurized, and fortified (by the addition of alcohol). Some vermouths are sweetened, whereas other are left unsweetened (dry vermouth). These tend to have a bitterish finish. The two versions differ in alcohol content as well. Vermouths are most commonly prepared from grape-based wines, but fruit-based wines made from mango, apple, plum, sand pear, and wild apricot may also be used. These possess distinct physicochemical and sensory qualities from standard vermouths. The review gives comprehensive information on the historical developments and technology of vermouth production, the various spices and herbs used in its production, and its quality characteristics. In addition, the chapter also discusses the commercial potential of nongrape fruits in vermouth production.