Effect of butter content and baking condition on characteristics of the gluten‐free dough and bread

This study aimed to investigate effect of butter content (0–30 g/100 g flour) and baking conditions hot air baking (HA), microwave baking (MW) and hot air‐microwave baking (HA‐MW) on quality of the rice flour dough and bread. The increased butter (up to 15 g butter/100 g flour) enhanced elastic modulus (G′) and viscous modulus (G″) of dough and specific volume of bread. Additionally, the increased butter improved crust colour and reduced hardness of the bread. The HA‐MW and MW conditions were useful for the gluten‐free bread by reducing baking time and predicted glycemic index (GI), regardless of butter content. However, enthalpy of retrogradation and crystallinity in the HA‐MW and MW bread stored at 4 °C for 7 days were increased and higher than those of the HA bread, indicating a faster staling. The predicted GI of both MW and HA‐MW bread remained at a medium level during storage.     

Characterisation of osmotically dehydrated papaya with further hot air drying and microwave vacuum drying

Papaya was subjected to osmotic dehydration (OD) prior to hot air drying (HA; 70 °C) and microwave vacuum drying (MVD; 3.75 W g^?1 and 13.3 kPa). An increase in immersion time in a sucrose solution [65/100 g (w/w)] at 40 ± 2 °C from 0 to 4 h decreased moisture content from 7.5802 to 1.2215 kg water kg dry solid^?1. During HA and MVD, effective moisture diffusivity was in the range 7.09 × 10^?8 to 9.13 × 10^?8 m² s^?1 and 2.85 × 10^?6 to 3.50 × 10^?6 m² s^?1, respectively, depending on immersion time. The hue angle of HA samples was 0.83–0.91, whereas that of MVD samples was 48.55–50.32. Both drying methods decreased springiness. Porosity was clearly observed in MVD samples. Rehydration rate was enhanced by increased immersion time and MVD (P ≤ 0.05). From preference mapping, MVD samples were more preferable than HA samples. Moreover, MVD samples with 1–3 h OD were more preferable than those with 4 h OD.     

Modeling of the effect of relative humidity and temperature on proving rate of rice-flour-based dough

Proving is one of the key processes in bread making, where dough normally rests and grows under an environment of constant temperature and humidity. To better understand the effect of relative humidity (RH) and temperature on the kinetics of dough expansion during proving and be able to optimize the growth rate, rice-flour-based dough of same formulation was proved under various process conditions. Both RH and temperature showed significant effect on the dough expansion rate during proving. To describe the dough expansion, a first-order, non-Arrhenius kinetic model was developed. The influence of RH and temperature on the kinetic rate was described by an empirical model. Through verification, the model performance was proved to be reasonably good. The model was subsequently used to optimize the proving condition to maximize the kinetic rate constant therefore minimizing the proving time. The fastest proving condition for the rice-flour-based dough in this research was at 90% RH and 46.3 °C. According to the model, the kinetic rate constant under the optimal condition was estimated to be at 0.217 min⁻¹. From an initial height of 5 mm, the dough height could be increased to 11 mm within 6.4 min.     

Original article: Effect of sucrose and glycerol mixtures in the osmotic solution on characteristics of osmotically dehydrated mandarin cv. (Sai‐Namphaung)

This study investigated the effects of a series of osmotic solutions consisting of sucrose and glycerol on the quality of osmotically dehydrated mandarin, namely mandarin cv. (Sai‐Namphaung). Mandarin samples were peeled and osmotically dehydrated at 55 °C with agitation at 3.5776 × 10^?1g in five osmotic solutions containing various mixtures of 60% sucrose and 60% glycerol (9:1, 8:2, 7:3, 6:4 and 5:5 w/w, respectively). The osmotically dehydrated mandarin was further dried using hot‐air drying at 70 °C for 360 min. Increasing the glycerol ratio in the mixtures significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased water loss and solid gain during osmotic dehydration, and significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected kinetic rate constants during drying. An increase in the glycerol ratio in the mixtures caused a significant decrease in the quality factors of hardness, moisture content, water activity and reducing sugar. However, the increase resulted in an increase in the darkness of the dried mandarin, compared with increasing the sucrose ratio in the mixtures (P ≤ 0.05). The increase had an insignificant (P > 0.05) effect on vitamin C content.     

Effect of combined microwave‐hot air drying and superheated steam drying on physical and chemical properties of rice

Jasmine rice (Oryza sativa L.) was subjected to two drying operations: combined microwave‐hot air drying (MHA) at initial power intensity of 3, 4 and 6 W g^?1 and superheated steam drying (SHS) at 300 °C and 400 °C. During drying, kinetic rate constants of SHS were significantly higher than those of MHA. Both drying operations could decrease enthalpy of starch gelatinisation from 9.28 J g^?1 to 1.64–6.17 J g^?1, increase gelatinisation extent to 33.51–82.33%, decrease crystallinity from 28.87% to 18.15–21.33%, improve scavenging ability of 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl, increase ferric reducing antioxidant power and increase hardness of cooked rice from 5.66 N to 5.83–6.55 N, depending on microwave power and drying medium temperature. However, taste profiles and liking scores were comparable to the regular brown rice. Therefore, MHA and SHS operations could be potentially used for reducing drying process and promoting antioxidant activity.     

Ultrastructure of differentiating oocytes and vitellogenesis in the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de man)

The ultrastructure of oogenesis in Macrobrachium rosenbergii, with reference to vitellogenesis, has not been reported. We used light and electron microscopy, as well as vitellin (Vn) purification and antibody production, to study the temporal and spatial production of Vn in the ovary by immunofluorescence. Histologically, the ovary is subdivided into cone‐shaped ovarian pouches with a central core containing layers of oogonia. These divide to produce oocytes that migrate outwardly and differentiate into mature oocytes. During the course of differentiation, oocytes undergo modifications, including the rearrangement of nuclear chromatin, the accumulation of ribosomes, rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), and lipid, and the formation of secretory and yolk granules, resulting in four stages. Ultrastructurally, early previtellogenic oocytes (Oc₁) are characterized by the accumulation of new ribosomal aggregates, translocated from the nucleus. Late previtellogenic oocytes (Oc₂) show nuclear heterochromatin with a “clock face” pattern, the presence of RER, and three types of secretory granules. Follicular cells occupy the intercellular spaces and surround the Oc₂. Early vitellogenic oocytes (Oc₃) are larger, with nuclei containing predominantly decondensed euchromatin, and cytoplasm with yolk and secretory granules, and few lipid droplets. Late vitellogenic oocytes (Oc₄) are characterized by completely euchromatic nuclei, an indistinct plasma membrane, yolk platelets and secretory granules, and abundant lipid. Vitellogenin (Vg) in ovaries of M. rosenbergii consist of two main bands at MW 90 and 102 kDa. Our data indicates that Vn is present, and probably synthesized in Oc₃ and Oc₄, but there may be some undetected exogenous Vg production. Microsc. Res. Tech. 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effect of osmotic dehydration on dielectric properties,microwave vacuum drying kinetics and quality of mangosteen

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana Linn.) with and without osmotic dehydration (OD) in sucrose solution was dried by microwave vacuum drying at 1200, 1440 and 1680 W. Because of water loss (49.12–49.98 g 100 g^?1) and solid gain (9.31–11.62 g 100 g^?1) during OD, dielectric constant, loss factor and loss tangent of mangosteen were significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05) to 24.82–25.12, 11.52–14.18 and 0.47–0.50, respectively. With the decreased initial moisture content and the modified dielectric properties, drying time of osmotically dehydrated mangosteen was shorter than that of mangosteen without OD. Moreover, an increase in microwave power enhanced drying kinetics. With OD, Tg of dried mangosteen was increased from ?7.01, ?3.00 to 11.11–25.96 °C. Hardness and lightness (seedless part) were significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05). Structure of dried seedless mangosteen was well protected, resulting in the improved rehydration ability (P ≤ 0.05). Nonetheless, rehydration ability of the mangosteen containing seed was not improved (P > 0.05).