Quality evaluation and shelf-life study of Moringa oleifera leaf powder incorporated ready-to-eat snack
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Date
2023-09-01
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G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263145
Abstract
Moringa oleifera leaves possess nutritional diversification and has the potential to combat PEM, yet it is underutilized and its incorporation in meals is limited. Therefore, keeping this into consideration, blanched and unblanched moringa leaf powders (UMLP and BMLP) were developed and analysed for physico-chemical and nutritional parameters. Ready-to-eat snack i.e. ‘sev’ was developed with incorporation of UMLP and BMLP (15, 20 and 25%) in barnyard millet flour in different proportions (75, 70 and 65%).
The findings of the study showed that physico-chemical characterstics viz. water absorption capacity (5.19 ml/g), bulk density (0.52g/ml) and foaming capacity (19.81%) of BMLP was found higher than UMLP. Nutritional analysis of UMLP showed significantly higher values of crude protein, crude fiber, total ash, minerals (calcium, zinc and manganese), total flavonoid, total dietary fiber whereas BMLP showed significantly higher values of moisture, crude fat, carbohydrate by difference, physiological energy, iron, total phenols, DPPH free radical scavenging, beta carotene, vitamin C, amino acid profiling, in-vitro protein digestibility and in-vitro iron bioavailability. Antinutritional factors are significantly lower in BMLP, which shows BMLP is superior in terms of nutritional quality.
Results of sensory evaluation showed that ready-to-eat snack i.e.‘sev’ prepared with 20% incorporation of blanched moringa leaf powder in 70 % of barnyard millet flour most acceptable among all the 6 formulations. Nutritional analysis of ‘sev’ showed that the most acceptable ‘sev’ was found to be better in most of the nutritional parameters. Shelf-life study showed that moringa leaf flour and most acceptable ‘sev’ were safe for consumption till 15 and 45 days of storage.
On the basis of findings of present study, it can be concluded that that incorporating steam blanched moringa leaf powder (up to 20 percent) into a ready-to-eat snack like ‘sev’ could be a valuable addition to the diets of undernourished children. This approach might help address the issue of Protein-Energy Malnutrition (PEM) due to the snack's considerable protein content and its in-vitro protein digestibility.
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