Application of sugar alcohols and artifical sweeteners as substitutes for sucrose in apricot, peach and strawberry jams.

Preparation of acceptable low caloric jams and replacement of sucrose by other sweeteners in jam were studied. Peach, apricot and strawberry jams were sweetened with sucrose [as control], aspartame, sorbitol or with combinations of them. It was possible to prepare jams with lower amounts of sucrose than currently used and still attain an acceptable product. When aspartame was used as the only sweetening agent, apricot, peach and strawberry, jams slight increase in total soluble solids, acidity and retention of vitamin C. Both aspartame and sorbitol were found to be heat stable and their sweetness did not change during processing. Also they had no effect on the total phenolic compounds. Jam prepared with 100% aspartame was much more viscous than 100% sorbitol in all jam samples. Finally, it could be concluded that energy value of each of the three tasted fruits prepared with the addition of 100% sorbitol showed lower calorie content [kcal/100g]. There were no differences in the color of the test jams except the color of strawberry jam was somewhat lower by using 100% aspartame. These results are in coincidence with the sensory evaluation that low calorie apricot, peach and strawberry jams with good color, texture and taste can be prepared from aspartame, sorbitol or mixture of them

Effect of varying salts concentration on physical, chemical and sensory characteristics of chicken meat

Increasing of sodium chloride concentrations decreased the pH and increased protein solubility from chicken breast muscle [CBM] and chicken thigh muscle [CTM] samples. It was observed that the protein solubility [PS] was increased by over 22% in CBM samples and by less 20% in CTM samples at 5% NaCl after 1 hr soaking. While PS was increased by 18% in CBM Samples and by 14% in CTM. No pronounced different in cooking loss between the two samples. The results showed more reduction in CTM samples after 1 hr soaking in 5% NaCl than in CBM samples. Furthermore, transmission of both types of CBM and CTM decreased slowly with the increasing of salt solution. Also, high salt concentration at level 5% NaCl reduce chicken muscle shrinkage and providing firm textures through solubilization of muscle proteins. At 4% and above, salt did not significantly increase the gel liquid lost, but the further reduction by 31% to 2% salt, significantly released more gel liquid compared to 4% salt concentration. The water holding capacity [WHC] of CBM samples was higher than those of CTM samples due to the CBM protein content which is higher than CTM. Different concentrations of sodium chloride solutions caused the release of some proteins and henced the unfolding proteins and caused the release of the carboxyl groups [-COOH], hence it caused the release of pH in the media. Increasing the concentration of the salt from 2% to 5% does not achieve any effect on folding the proteins because all the proteins are release from the Alpha-helix structure hence the gel electrophoresis band are becoming obviously seen and caused a pH stability even with increasing extraction time. Low concentration of mono-valiant salts does not lead to enhancing the appearance of high molecular weight protein approximately 200 kD, but low concentration of divalent salts enhanced the appearance of high molecular weight protein. Data showed panelists acceptability towards soaking CBM and CTM samples in 4% NaCl for 1hr, while samples were soaking in 1% MgCI[2] showed unacceptability