Physicochemical and sensory characteristics of no‐bake wheat–soy snack bars

BACKGROUND: Health and wellness is a trend observed throughout ready‐to‐eat cereals, cereal health bars. Therefore, the main objectives of this research were to produce a low cost, acceptable, nutritious and healthy wheat‐ and soy‐based bar under no‐bake conditions. Also, the physical, chemical, microbial, acceptability and the nutritional value of this product were studied. Six different bars were produced: a wheat bar (WB), a wheat bar with coating (WBC), a wheat and soy bar with coating (WSBC), a soy bar with coating (SBC), a wheat bar with 3% glycerin (WB3%), and a wheat bar with 6% glycerine (WB6%). RESULTS: WB and WBC had the highest water activities while WSBC had the lowest. The three bars with coating had higher L and lower b values, which indicates that they were lighter and not as highly yellow coloured as the wheat samples. WSBC had the lowest value for hardness while the SBC and WBC had the highest. SBC received the highest scores for overall acceptability, appearance, sweetness, flavour and texture while WSBC received the second highest score in all categories. CONCLUSION: It appears that consumers prefer the soy varieties to the wheat bars. These types of bars can aid in feeding the general population, which is becoming increasingly concerned with nutrition and convenience. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Physicochemical and fatty acid characteristics of stewed pork as affected by cooking method and time

This study was designed to investigate the effects of cooking on physicochemical and fatty acid characteristics of stewed pork. Pre‐fried or raw pork belly cubes were stewed for 60, 90, 120, 150 or 180 min. After cooking, proximate chemical composition, texture, sensory evaluation, lipid oxidation, fatty acid profiles and cholesterol content were determined. Prolonged cooking time resulted in higher percentages of dry matter, fat and fat loss in stewed cubes (P < 0.01), and pre‐frying also increased fat loss. Tenderness and elasticity values of texture profile analysis and sensory scores were the highest for the cubes stewed for 180 min or by pre‐frying combined with stewing for 150 min. Pre‐frying and extended cooking time significantly increased lipid oxidation (P < 0.01). Cooking modified fatty acid profiles which altered the derived cardiovascular indices, and reduced cholesterol content. Prolonged stewing improved eating quality and most nutritional values of pork belly.