Peanut protein: A versatile food ingredient

Peanut flour has been evaluated for use in a variety of food products as a replacement for animal source proteins. In breakfast cereals and snack foods, peanut flour blends well with cereal flours to yield products with excellent flavor, texture, and color. Peanut flour can be used to produce textured vegetable protein or can be used directly in ground meats to provide good moisture and fat binding characteristics. In bakery products, peanut flour can be used at levels up to 20% to provide protein supplementation without the astringent flavor of other oilseed flours.     

Disappearance of BHA and BHT in relation to peroxide content in breakfast cereals

In ready-to-eat breakfast cereals the amounts of BHA and BHT remaining at any time during storage were inversely proportional to the amount of peroxides present in the cereal. At the point of organoleptic unacceptability of stored cereals the peroxide numbers were approximately 120, and contents of BHA and BHT were each approximately 10% to 20% of the initial levels. No discernible amount of a dimeric oxidation product of BHA or BHT could be isolated from any stored cereal which contained BHA and BHT. It is likely that dimeric oxidation products do not occur in appreciable amounts as intermediates or final products in the reactions of BHA and BHT with peroxides in cereals. It is probable that each mole of BHA and BHT in cereals reacts with several moles of peroxide radicals to form hydroperoxides and complexes of antioxidants with peroxide radicals. Presented at the AOCS meeting in New Orleans, La., 1962. General Mills Central Research Journal Series, Paper No. 305.     

Development of an enzymatic fish hydrolysate and its use in instant soup bases

The successful conservation of fish products, at low costs, is a subject of special interest in the developing countries. Conscious of this fact, our group has been studying several fish conservation methods, such as autolysis with high salt concentrations, and has obtained a sauce of high nutritive value and long shelf life. Nevertheless, the reaction process takes from four to six months. In the study herein reported, the hydrolysis was accelerated and controlled by using the following enzymes: papain, HT proteolytic, and Brew (N) zyme. The hydrolysate was then mixed with cereals to prepare instant soups. As results indicated, the best hydrolysate was obtained with Brew (N) zyme at 50 degrees C and 8.30 hours. This hydrolysate contains 93.0 g/100 g crude protein with a protein efficiency ratio (PER) and a net protein utilization (NPU) of 60% that of casein's NPU as well as a content of 0.8% ether extract. The lowest-cost mixtures with the highest nutritive value were: hydrolysate-wheat-soymeal, and hydrolysate-rice-soymeal, with 38.3 and 29.7 protein per 100 g of mixture, respectively, and a NPU of 79.0 and 79.8% in relation to casein, respectively. The soups prepared had a satisfactory acceptance rating. There were no significant differences in flavor and aroma at a confidence level of 95%. The cost per gram of protein is about US$ 0.22 per kg.     

Liquefaction of coal using supercritical fluid mixtures

Powhatan No. 5 and Bruceton coals were liquefied for 15–60 min at 653 K and 30 MPa in supercritical aqueous mixtures containing 10–20 wt% tetrahydroquinoline (THQ), quinoline or tetralin. The THQ-water mixtures produced the highest conversion to tetrahydrofuran (THF) soluble products (up to 74%). Tetralin-water, quinoline-water and pure water solvents gave increasingly lower yields of THF solubles. Addition of hydrogen to the quinoline-water solvent mixture increased yields slightly, but not to the level obtained using the THQ-water mixture.The yields of THF solubles in all instances depended upon the concentration of solvent in the mixture, with the 10 wt% THQ and 10 wt% tetralin (in water) giving higher yields than either 0 or 20 wt% concentrations. The nitrogen-containing solvents were chemically bonded to the THF-soluble product, as observed by g.p.c.     

Preparation of fish protein isolate and hydrolyzate (Mugil cephalus) and their incorporation into Mexican foods

Fish protein isolates (FPI) and hydrolyzates (FPH) were obtained from mullet (Mugil cephalus) through alkali solubilization and HCl precipitation for FPI, as well as enzymatic hydrolysis for FPH. The powdered products showed solubilities of 50 and 89%, and emulsifying capacities of 36 and 39 ml oil/100 mg for FPI and FPH, respectively, with protein contents of 90% and oil contents lower than 1.6%. Both products were used to enrich cereals and legumes in order to increase their protein content and quality. The resulting mixtures were used to prepare common Mexican dishes. When up to 20 and 35% of the total protein was provided by FPI and FPH, respectively, the dishes were well accepted by 70% of the panel.     

Elaboration of a dried-salted and smoked product using aquaculture species

The purpose of this work was to adapt the procedure developed at the Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición Salvador Zubirán (INNSZ) for the conservation of the sardine to aquaculture species such as carp (Ciprinus carpio) and tilapia (Tilapia sp). The mixtures were designed on the basis of the chemical score method. The preparation of the patties included different fish presentations, and two methods were evaluated in order to obtain fish pulp. In the formulation of the final product, defatted soy, maize and wheat flour were included, as well as three different mixtures of condiments, which were then compared to the original formulation based on sardine. The raw materials and final products were subjected to sensory evaluation and to a shelf-life study. The results indicated that for these species, to obtain the fish pulp it is necessary to include one phase of the procedure, which can be manual or mechanical, because there are no significant differences between them. The formulations selected were: flour corn (10%)--flour soy (30%)--carp (60%), and flour corn (10%)--flour soy (22%)--tilapia (68%). In both cases the condiment mixture was eliminated, and only common salt was used. The protein content was of 40g/100g of the dry product, with a minimum shelflife of 12 weeks at room temperature (22 degrees-23 degrees C). During this period no rancidity developed, the product was microbiologically adequate for human consumption, and proved to have a higher sensory acceptance than sardine patties.     

Copolymerization of vinyl acetate with methyl N-(1-cyanopropene-2-yl)itaconamate

Summary Vinyl acetate copolymerized with methyl N-(1-cyanopropene-2-yl)itaconamate(I) forming low molecular weight copolymer containing about 8% of I. I was prepared by methylating potassium N-(1-cyanopropene-2-yl)itaconamate. The amic acid of the last salt as well as N-(1-cyanopropene-2-yl)maleamic and N-(10cyanopropene-2-yl)citraconamic acids could not be dehydrated to the corresponding imides using acetic anhydride-sodium acetate mixture. High melting, water-soluble polymeric products that could not be crystallized were always the products. These results confirm earlier related studies. Therefore, vinyl containing amic acids having allylic substituents on their nitrogen atoms may not be dehydrated to the corresponding imides by acetic anhydride-sodium acetate mixtures.     

Essential and non essential amino acid content of infant cereals in different stages of industrial processing and its relationship with chemical scores of protein quality

The effect of technological process on essential and non essential amino acids contents in infant cereals, the protein and essential amino acids infant dietary requirements cover by infant cereals, and its quality using some chemical scores has been studied. Mix of raw flours, mix of roasted flours, mix of enzymatically, hydrolysed and drum dried flours and commercial infant cereals of four different types of infant cereals: "Multicereal" and "Wheat" (both with gluten), "Growth" and "Rice and carrot" (both gluten free) were evaluated. The technological process only show a significant effect on lysine, arginine (P < 0.05) and valine (P < 0.01) contents in "Rice and carrot" infant cereal. Protein of any studied infant cereals covers 17.4% of the daily infant requirements in, while for essential amino acids will cover about 25 to 200% until the third year of life. As we expected, the limitant amino acid was lysine in all flours. Chemical scores only were affected by technological treatment in "Rice and carrot" infant cereal, showing the gluten-free infant cereals higher values (36.7-69.5%) than gluten infant cereals (18.1%-30.7%) at the end of the processing. It should be standing out "Growth" infant cereal, because of it has a higher lysine content than other infant cereals due to the main ingredients rice and corn.     

Influence of Osmoconcentration, Continuous High-Frequency Ultrasound and Dehydration on Properties and Microstructure of Rabbiteye Blueberries

Rabbiteye blueberries were osmoconcentrated for 12 h, and for 3 h with and without continuous high-frequency ultrasound (CHFU) and then air dehydrated (70°C, 10 h). Osmoconcentration increased solids gain, moisture loss, soluble solids, and bulk density. Long osmoconcentration for 12 h can be reduced with CHFU with similar results. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs indicated that berries without pretreatment suffered the highest degree of tissue collapse. They also had the highest rehydration ratio and may be ideal for use in breakfast cereals. Osmoconcentrated berries may be used as snack food or in cereal bars due to high bulk density and low rehydration ratio.     

Ein neues Fischproteinkonzentrat

A Novel Fish Protein Concentrate Compared to almost all developing countries there is a surplus of animal protein in the Federal Republic of Germany. A fish protein concentrate suitable for the fortification of cereals is already being produced on a large scale in Sweden. International collaboration has yielded a process for the manufacture of a novel fish protein concentrate having improved technological properties without loss of the nutritional value, hygienic status and stability. Whereas in Europe the protein concentrates from plants are well known and are being utilized in increasing amounts, fish protein concentrate is currently discussed as a possible aid to developing countries. In contrast to Food and Drug Administration of the USA, one is rather skeptical towards these products in Germany. Using raw fish having higher degree of freshness, a foodstuff can be prepared which in future might be interesting for the food processor for the development of new products and improvement of the nutritional properties of known products.     

Flavor problems of vegetable food proteins

Flavor is a major factor that limits the use of many vegetable proteins in foods. In high quality whole cereal grains, flavor and flavor stability present little or no problem; but when some cereals are further processed into protein concentrates and isolates, objectionable flavors can arise from oxidative deteri-oriation of unsaturated fatty esters in protein-bound lipids. However, degermed wheat and corn flours (endosperm products) have little or no flavor. Raw legumes and oilseeds enriched with respect to lipoxygenases and other metallo-proteins possess lipid-derived, objectionable flavor compounds. Lipoxygenase-mediated conversion of lipids to lipohydroperoxides and their subsequent degradation form volatile and nonvolatile constituents responsible for off-flavors. n-Hexanal, 3-cis-hexenal, n-pentylfuran, 2(1-pentenyl)furan, and ethyl vinyl ketone are major contributors to grassy-beany and green flavors. Higher 2,4-alkadienals have oxidized painty, rancid flavors sometimes noted in residual lipids. Geosmin, an oxygenated hydrocarbon, is responsible for the musty, moldy, earthy flavor of dry beans. This compound may contribute to similar flavors noted in soy and corn protein isolates. Thermally degraded phenolic acids account for some of the objectionable cooked odors of soy products that have been subjected to high temperature treatment such as retorting, autoclaving, and sterilization. Oxidized phosphatidylcholine most likely accounts for the bitter taste of soy products. Oxygenated fatty acids, including the bittertasting trihydroxy octadecenoic acids, have been identified in the bitter phosphatidylcholines isolated from soybeans. Oxidized lipids appear to be associatted with the bitter, astringent, and rancid flavors of protein isolates prepared from wet-milled corn germ flour. Grassy-beany, bitter flavor compounds preexist in the maturing soybean and are also generated during processing. In some legumes development of off-flavors can be readily controlled by rapid inactivation of lipoxygenase with heat, alcohol, or acid treatment. Legume powders of acceptable flavor quality can be prepared by wet-milling whole seeds in aqueous alcohols. Extraction of meals with hydrogen bond-breaking solvents, such as alcohols or azeotropic mixtures of hexane and alcohol, effectively removes protein-bound lipids to yield concentrates with greatly improved flavors. Soy protein concentrates approaching the blandness of wheat flour have been prepared by a combination of azeotrope extraction and steaming. Similar processes can also be used to greatly improve flavor scores of corn germ protein isolates. Based on our present knowledge about the identity of off-flavor constituents and how they are derived, much progress has been made to effectively remove or modify them. These developments should result in new emerging technology that would be applicable to the manufacture of highly acceptable protein products from various vegetable sources.     

Heat and Mass Transfer Modeling of Apple Slices Under Simultaneous Infrared Dry Blanching and Dehydration Process

To develop a new simultaneous infrared dry blanching and dehydration process for producing high-quality blanched and partially dehydrated products, apple slices with three different thicknesses, 5, 9, and 13 mm, were heated using infrared for up to 10 min at 4000 W/m² IR intensity. The surface and center temperatures, moisture change, and enzymatic activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) of apple slices were determined. The models of heat and mass transfer and enzyme inactivation were developed for predicting the blanching and dehydration performance. In the model development, the apple slices were assumed as one dimensional with heat and mass transfer only occurring in one direction. The enzyme inactivation followed first-order kinetics. The models were solved using a finite element method. The predicted temperature and moisture profiles and inactivation rate of enzymes were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data. This indicated that the process of simultaneous dry blanching and dehydration of apple slices under IR heating can be predicted with the developed models.     

Synthesis and characterization of polyacrylamidegrafted sodium alginate membranes for pervaporation separation of water + isopropanol mixtures

Polyacrylamide‐grafted‐sodium alginate copolymers were prepared by persulfate‐induced radical polymerization by using polymer‐to‐monomer ratios of 2 : 1 and 1 : 1. Polymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential thermal analysis, and viscosity. Membranes were prepared from the polymers, crosslinked with glutaraldehyde, and used in the pervaporation separation of water + isopropanol mixtures at 30°C. Equilibrium swelling experiments were performed for mixtures containing 10 to 80 mass % of water in the feed. Both the grafted copolymer membranes were ruptured while separating 10 mass % of water in the feed mixture. However, beyond 20 mass % of water in the feed mixture, flux increased with increasing grafting ratio, while selectivity decreased. Pervaporation separation experiments were carried out at 30, 40, and 50°C for 20 mass % of water in the feed mixture. By increasing the temperature, flux increased, whereas selectivity decreased. Arrhenius activation parameters for pervaporation and diffusion decreased with increasing grafting ratio of the membranes. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 2030–2037, 2004     

Reconstitution of Food Powders Granulated with Oil-in-Water Emulsions

Vegetable soups are complex mixtures containing vegetables in different percentages, thickeners, salt, fat, and emulsifying/wetting agents. When prepared as dehydrated powders in convenience foods, they need to be rehydrated before consumption and this can lead to formation of undesired lumps when carried out in hot water. Elimination of lumps and simplification of the preparation procedure were reached by granulating three different vegetable mixtures, each with a predominant vegetable (spinach, beetroot, and carrot), using an alternative liquid binder besides water. The use of an oil-in-water emulsion affected positively some technological properties of the dry products like granule strength and flowability, and the rehydrated soups in terms of complete dispersion in hot water. Also, the interplay between starches and soluble sugars, naturally present in vegetables, was found to impact the complete rehydration of the soups.     

Low cholesterol egg powder. Nutritive and quality characteristics of the product

The purpose of this study is to obtain a low cholesterol egg powder for the preparation of different foods for persons whose egg consumption is restricted. Egg white and yolk mixtures prepared in different proportions were dehydrated; the following dried mixtures were obtained: A (1:1), B (2:1) and C (3:1) of egg white:yolk respectively. These mixtures were evaluated using the following parameters: proximal analysis, microbiological assay and protein quality evaluation. Physical characteristics of the powder and the sensorial tests of foods prepared with these mixtures were carried out. The fat and the cholesterol content in the mixture C were decreased by 40% and 20% respectively. The microbiological tests showed that the three mixtures were safe for human consumption. The PER of sample A (whole egg) was 3.65 and for the mixture C 3:1 egg white:yolk was 3.05. The PER of the 50:50 protein mixtures eggs white and yolk: with corn lime treated flour (HMN) were higher than that of the casein standard. The sensorial tests of the foods prepared with all the mixtures were acceptable.     

Food applications of corn germ protein products

Many convenience foods such as meat analogs, breakfast foods, and baked goods use ingredients prepared from cereal grains and their processed products. Among the most important new cereal protein products, corn germ protein products appear to have the greatest potential food markets.     

Vegetable food resources with agroindustrial potential from Guatemala. Manufacture of vegetable milk from the seed of morro fruit (Crescentia alata)

The objective of the present study was to establish the conditions for the preparation of vegetable milk from the morro or jicara seed, and to characterize the products, the milk and the residue for their partial chemical composition and acceptability. From the ripe fruit, the seeds were obtained by maceration in water for 3.5 hrs, obtaining seed yields of 80%. This seed contained 38% fat and 26% protein on a dry weight basis. The harvested seed was then dehydrated to 9-12% moisture by exposure to solar energy. A similar lot was lightly roasted by heating on a hot surface for 10 min at 90-110 degrees C. The seed was used for the extraction of solubles or the vegetable milk. Water extraction with up to 10 minutes of mechanical blending gave low yields of soluble solids (4.66 +/- 0.10 to 4.98 +/- 0.07%) and low contents of fat, protein and ash in the extract with sun dried seed and significantly lower with the lightly roasted seed (3.0 +/- 0.05 to 3.4 +/- 0.03%). Due to the low yields of total soluble solids and to the low nutrient content by aqueous extraction, new extractants were used consisting of buffer solutions at pH 7.8, or 8.5 with and without saline solution at 0.5% concentration. With these solutions greater amounts of solids were extracted with a higher content of nutrients. The milk prepared from the sun dried seed and extracted with buffer at pH 8.5 and saline solution (0.5%) gave an extract with 9.85% of total solids, 3.37% protein, 4.44% fat. The extraction with roasted seed gave significantly lower yields. The residue of the extraction contained 21.47% fat and 14.72% protein. With the use of buffers and saline solution the extracts had better acceptability, with the milk produced from sun dried seed having better organoleptic characteristics in comparison with soy milk (5.84 vrs 3.76), however it was of lower acceptability when tested against cows milk (5.7 vrs 7.7). The isoelectric point of the extracted protein was between 4 4.45.     

Development of cereal bar with pineapple skin

The cereal bars are multi-component products consisting of cereals, dried fruit and syrup binder and may be added to the consumable parts of fruits and vegetables which usually are not exploited and have high nutritional value, thereby reducing food waste. It was developed a jam with pineapple skin, which it was utilized in 13.5% in the cereal bar formulation. The cereal bar was sensorial evaluated and had its centesimal and mineral composition determined. The new product achieved average of 8.3 for global impression using 9 points hedonic scale, 91% of acceptance rate and 67% of purchase intent. In this first use of pineapple skin jam as food ingredient it can be concluded that its aggregation in the cereal bar formula is feasible, making an accepted product with fibers, proteins and minerals, as an alternative to traditional cereal bars.     

Foundry qualities and applications of local synthetic sand mixtures

Synthetic sand mixtures were compounded from a dredged sand bonded with clays of different plasticity. The foundry qualities of the mixtures were studied for their possible application in synthetic sand moulds for foundries. The clays utilized are fireclay from Enugu and Ogharaki clay from Delta State, Nigeria. Properties studied include: classification characteristics, the green and the dry compressive strengths, the permeability and the shatter index.Results indicate that the more plastic Ogharaki clay is a better binder, at least on the basis of the green strength and the shatter index. Moulds made of fireclay are slightly more permeable at lower moisture content. Apart from these, mixtures of any of the bonding clays developed the best qualities with about 8% binder content and a water content ranging from 3.5 to 4.0%. The study also shows that the synthetic sands would be suitable for steel and general purpose casting considering the low water and the low binder contents of the mixtures.     

Cold flow properties of fuel mixtures containing biodiesel derived from animal fatty waste

The aims of the present study were to evaluate the cold temperature behavior of methyl esters of vegetable and animal origin and of their mixtures with fossil diesel fuel, as well as to investigate the effectiveness of different depressants. Various blends of rapeseed oil methyl esters, linseed oil methyl esters, pork lard methyl esters and fossil diesel fuel were prepared, and both cloud point and cold filter plugging point (CFPP) were analyzed. It was found that mixtures with CFPP values of –5 °C and lower may contain up to 25% of pork lard methyl esters; whereas the ratio of summer fossil diesel fuel and rapeseed oil methyl esters may vary over a wide range, i.e. such mixtures can be used in a diesel engine in the summer. In the transitory periods it is possible to use up to 20% animal and vegetable ester blends (3 : 7) with winter fossil diesel, whereas only up to 5% of esters can be added to the fuel used in winter. In order to improve the cold properties of rapeseed oil, pork lard and linseed oil methyl ester mixtures, various additives were tested. Depressant Viscoplex 10–35 with an optimal dose of 5000 mg/kg was found to be the most effective.