DEVELOPMENT OF PASTEURIZATION PROCESS FOR ROCK CRAB MEAT (CANCER IRRORATUS)

Rock crab (Cancer irroratus) is abundant in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and along coastlines of the Atlantic region of Canada. The objective of this work was to prepare a pasteurization schedule for Atlantic Canadian Rock Crab meat (claw, leg and body). Samples of 175 g of meat plus 52 g of 2% w/w brine or 125 g meat plus 102 g brine were placed in an 8 oz polypropylene container with an aluminum pull-top lid. The slowest heating spot for a conductively heating product was found to be 3.0 cm below the lid. Pasteurization was evaluated at 81C, 82C and 83C to a pasteurization lethality of 40 min at 85C (z = 8.89 C). The heat penetration parameters obtained were j_h= 1.703, f_h= 34.8 min, j_c= 1.549 and f_c= 51.0 min. The optimal process was found to be 83C for 130 min. The shear strength for unprocessed crab leg samples was, on average, 0.33 N/mm² (±0.06) compared to 0.24 N/mm² (+0.02) for processed samples. This represents 27.4% reduction in the shear stress that is largely attributed to the processing method. Thirty two free amino acids were determined including 9 essential amino acids, and their total amounts ranged between 24.8% and 30.0% of the sample, on dry basis. The total amounts of essential amino acids in the processed and unprocessed samples were, respectively, 15.3 and 17.8 mg/g sample. No significant losses in the amounts of essential amino acids was observed between processed and unprocessed samples, except for methionine, isoleucine and lysine, which were significantly reduced in the processed samples.     

OBJECTIVE COLOR MEASUREMENT OF FRESH DATE FRUITS AND PROCESSED DATE PRODUCTS

Because of significant international trade in date fruits, the need for objective color measurement for maintaining strict quality standards has become obvious. The results on color measurement of specimens of fresh date fruits at four stages of maturity and some processed date products in terms of CIE L*a*b* color coordinate values and hue angle (η) are presented. The L*, a*, b* and η values were found to indicate the color of date fruits and processed date products objectively. Measurements utilizing a Macbeth Color Checker spectrophotometer may, therefore, be extremely useful in quantifying the color of date fruits for objective color comparison between different date cultivars and for quality control of processed date products in the international trade.     

QUALITY AND SAFETY CHARACTERISTICS OF MILK SOLD IN THE STATE OF KUWAIT

ABSTRACT

The food chain operational links for locally produced and imported milk were prepared. Quality and safety assessment of milk were also carried out by collecting raw milk samples from the farms, and pasteurized milk from retail and wholesale outlets. Milk samples were analyzed for pH, titratable acidity, clot on boiling, aflatoxin M1, antibiotic residues, and microbiological quality and safety. Results have shown that the mean pH and acidity of raw milk were 6.83 and 0.180%, while the mean pH and acidity values for local and imported pasteurized milk were 6.9 and 0.170%, and 6.8 and 0.150%, respectively. Furthermore, all raw and pasteurized milk samples were negative for the clot on boiling test and were within the allowable limits for aflatoxin M1 and antibiotic residues. However, raw milk samples collected from the local dairy farms were unacceptable because of the high somatic cell count and high Staphylococcus aureus counts.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Securing an adequate food supply for the nation has always been the fundamental concern of Kuwait's policy makers. Under local Kuwaiti conditions, with high temperatures over most of the year and the high level of imported products with unknown histories, combined with handling by unskilled labors, food losses can be excessive. This situation creates marketing problems for some of the highly perishable foods like milk. The baseline data of milk losses obtained during this study would help to bring about improvements in storage, handling and distribution practices and develop recommendations for private/public agencies to adopt technologies for improving milk losses. Furthermore, since there are no accurate statistics on milk losses in Kuwait, these primary data could be used to determine the economic values of milk losses in Kuwait.

     

PROCESSING OF SOME IMPORTANT DATE CULTIVARS GROWN IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES INTO CHUTNEY AND DATE RELISH

Fruits from five important date cultivars grown in the United Arab Emirates collected at different stages of maturity were utilized for the laboratory-scale preparation of chutney and date relish. The panelists were not able to detect sensory quality differences among the chutney and date relish samples prepared from different cultivars, as no significant differences were found in the sensory quality scores of the chutney or date relish made from these cultivars at the khalal or kimri stages of maturity during the storage period. Although the total plate counts and mold counts in these chutney and date relish samples increased significantly (Log₁₀CFU/mL 2.40 to 5.83) during storage, they were still within acceptable limits. These products were found to be free from Enterobacteriaceae and coliforms during the entire period of five months of storage at room temperature. Further product development studies are needed to explore the possibility of preparing these value-added processed date fruit products, especially date relish.     

STUDIES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF PAN BREAD USING RAW WHEAT GERM

Raw wheat germ, known to be high in vitamin E and other phytochemicals, was used to develop pan bread formulations. The raw wheat germ used had protein, fat and ash contents of 27.88, 9.86 and 4.33%, respectively, compared with 11.35, 1.26 and 0.61% for white flour. Reduction in specific loaf volume, due to the inclusion of wheat germ, was significantly restored by using a combination of 30 ppm potassium bromate and 50 ppm ascorbic acid. At levels of 10 and 20% germ incorporation, the use of 3.0% enzyme‐active soy flour significantly improved the specific loaf volume of the test breads. In comparison with white‐flour control bread, panelists did not find any significant differences in any of the sensory attributes of the test bread samples containing up to 10% wheat germ and 0.5% sodium stearoyl‐2‐lactylate (SSL). The minerals, protein and fat content of wheat‐germ‐enriched breads, was superior to the white‐flour control bread. It can be concluded that phytochemical‐enriched pan bread with superior nutritional and sensory qualities can be produced using white flour, 20% wheat germ, 0.5% SSL, 30 ppm potassium bromate and 50 ppm ascorbic acid.     

INSTRUMENTAL TEXTURE and BAKING QUALITY of HIGH-FIBER TOAST BREAD AS AFFECTED BY ADDED WHEAT MILL FRACTIONS

The effect of bran type, level of addition, particle size, addition of wheat germ, as well as other additives like improvers and dough conditioners, on the instrumental texture and baking quality of high-fiber toast bread (white pan bread) has been investigated. the specific loaf volume decreased significantly (3.45 cc/g) when the bran level was raised to 30%, but at 20% bran addition, the specific loaf volume was superior to that of the control bread. the specific loaf volume of test breads remained higher than the control bread up to a level of 7.5% wheat germ addition. Additives like ascorbic acid (50 ppm) and sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate (0.5%) further improved the baking quality of test bread samples. the objective texture values (measured as compression force, kg) indicated that the test bread with bran addition up to 20% and germ up to 7.5% possessed a softer texture (0.80 kg) than the control bread (1.02 kg). In comparison with control bread, the panelists gave higher sensory scores for all attributes of test bread samples containing up to 20% red coarse bran or up to 30% red fine bran. A similar trend in sensory quality of test samples containing up to 7.5% wheat germ was also observed. High-fiber toast bread made from white flour, equal proportions of coarse and fine bran at 20%, wheat germ at 7.5%, plus sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate at 0.5% levels, was found to possess softer texture and improved sensory quality than the whole wheat flour bread.     

UTILITY OF CIE TRISTIMULUS SYSTEM IN MEASURING THE OBJECTIVE CRUMB COLOR OF HIGH-FIBER TOAST BREAD FORMULATIONS

The major objectives of this study were to develop high‐fiber toast bread formulations with lighter crumb color and to evaluate the CIE tristimulus system to measure the color of crumb as affected by the addition of various flour mill fractions. The optimized straight‐dough bread making method (AACC method 10‐10B) was used for conducting the baking trials. CIE L* a* b* values of the crumb were measured. Additional color attributes, (whiteness value, redness index (RI), saturation index (SI) and total color difference (ΔE), were calculated from these L* a* b* values. Compared with flour samples, the germ and bran fractions had significantly lower CIE L* a* b* and whiteness values, but higher redness and saturation indices, indicating darker color and hue for the latter. Test bread samples having up to 30% bran and 10% germ, were lighter in crumb color than the control whole wheat flour bread. It was concluded that high‐fiber toast bread, with lighter crumb color than whole wheat flour bread, can be produced by using white flour, and equal proportions of coarse and fine bran at 20%, germ at 5%, and sodium stearoyl‐2‐lactylate at 0.5% levels. The CIE L*a* b* tristimulus system can effectively be utilized for distinguishing crumb color variations in toast bread samples.     

THERMAL KINETICS of STREPTOCOCCUS FAECIUM IN NUTRIENT BROTH/SOUS VIDE PRODUCTS UNDER PASTEURIZATION CONDITIONS

There is current major interest in the microbiological aspects and safety of chilled foods such as sous vide. Thermal kinetics for a target microorganism, Streptococcus faecium, was performed and is described in this paper. an E-20 S. faecium was tested for heat resistance in cooked meat nutrient broth. Known cell concentrations were inoculated into ampoules containing the heating medium and exposed to various heating temperatures (60-85C). Swival curves for the recovered S. faecium cells were constructed. the D-values calculated from the logarithm of number of survivors versus time plot were 22.53, 4.47, 1.11, 0.61, 0.29, 0.20 min for 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85C, respectively. the z-value obtained from 60–85C was 12.4C; however when only 60–75C was considered, the z-value obtained was 9.4C. Pasteurization values (P_v) calculated for a 13D reduction of S. faecium at 65 and 75C based on the above kinetics and heat penetration data under sous vide processing conditions compared favorably with experimental values in both nutrient broth and in sous vide spaghetti with meat sauce and mackerel with rice products. Using D-values of a heat resistant representative, S. faecium E-20 as a basis, parameters for pasteurization that effectively eliminate vegetative nonspore forming bacteria may be developed. However, the variation in z-values suggest that their usefulness in determining pasteurization process parameters should be carefully considered.