Production of halva tahinia from sunflower seeds [helianthus annuus]: II-preparation of sunflower seed kernel butter [tahina] and its valuation

ABSTRACT

Sunflower seeds were cleaned, dehulled, roasted and grinded in stone- mill to obtain sunflower kernel butter [tahinia]. The obtained sunflower tahinia was subjected to chemical analysis and organoleptic evaluation and compared with sesame tahinia. This study revealed that there was a reasonable similarity in proximate analysis of both sesame and sunflower tahinia, except that sunflower tahinia was characterized with high fiber content, while sesame tahinia was contained higher amount of oil. The fatty acid pattern of both sunflower and sesame tahinia was almost the same, while the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids [mainly oleic and linoleic] was higher in sunflower tahinia [68.22%] as compared to its amount in sesame tahina [54.58%]. The protein of sunflower tahina was low in most essential amino acids. The content of these amino acids may be affected by the heat treatment [roasting process]. Determination of minerals indicated that sesame tahinia contained amounts of Ca, Na, Cu, Mn, and Zn more than that found in sunflower tahina. The organoleptic evaluation of sunflower tahina indicated that the product characterized with acceptable taste, odor, color and texture could be consumed directly as salad dressing. Generally, the chemical and organoleptic evaluation of sunflower tahinia indicated the possibility of using this product directly as a salad or for halva tahinia production