© Copyright 2009 AACC International.
Published January 2009.
E.L. Karkle, S. Alavi, H. Dogan. Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA. S. Jain. Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur - Rajasthan, India. K. Waghray. Osmania University, Hyderabad, India.
Karkle, E.L., Alavi, S., Dogan, H., Jain, S., Waghray, K. 2009. Development and evaluation of fruit and vegetable-based extruded snacks. Online. AACC International Cereal Science Knowledge Database
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There is a global trend towards the development of healthy snacks. The incorporation of fruits and vegetables in extruded snacks represents a strategy to increase consumption of this food group while greatly increasing the nutritional value of snacks. The objective of this work was to develop and evaluate fruit and vegetable-based extruded snacks. Dehydrated powders of pumpkin (Cucubita moschata), lotus stems (Nelumbo nucifera), kulfa leaves (Portulaca oleracea), curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) or Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis) were added individually to whole cornmeal in two levels (25% and 50%). The mixes were extruded on a twin-screw lab scale extruder under typical conditions for directly expanded extruded snacks. Cornmeal was used as a control. The dietary fiber content of the dehydrated powders ranged from 14.5 g/100 g (lotus) to 51.5 g/100 g (kulfa). Increasing the powder level from 25 to 50% caused decreased radial expansion for all extrudates, except for gooseberry. Void fraction (determined by X-ray microtomography) was correlated to radial expansion (r = 0.72) and also to flow temperature (r = 0.82) of the dry mix (measured on a Phase Transition Analyzer). Both soluble and insoluble fiber had a negative correlation to radial expansion ratio (r = –0.68, r = –0.60, respectively), while only soluble fiber was negatively correlated to flow temperature (r = –0.67). Breaking force (3-point breaking test) of gooseberry, pumpkin and curry snacks was lower than the control. Powder level did not influence breaking force. A sensory test was conducted by 30 panelists (women, 40–50 years) using a 9-point hedonic scale. Although the control had the highest overall acceptance score (5.9), it did not differ from the snacks with lotus, kulfa or gooseberry at either powder level (P < 0.05). Snacks at both powder levels were equally accepted for all 8 sensory attributes and all 5 fruit and vegetable powders. The selected fruit and vegetable powders caused great impact on physical and structural characteristics of extruded snacks; however based on equal sensory acceptance, 50% of cornmeal can be replaced by the nutrient-dense powders of lotus stems, kulfa leaves or gooseberry.
