Development of gluten-free cereal bar for gluten intolerant population by using quinoa as major ingredient.

The present study was carried out to develop gluten free cereal bars for gluten intolerant population. The cereal bar was formulated using dry raw materials (quinoa, brown rice, flaxseed and dry fruits) and binding agents (honey). Honey was added as a sweetener and binding agent. The raw materials were assessed for physico-chemical parameters such as moisture, ash, crude protein and fat content and the functional parameters such as antioxidant activity, total phenolic content and ß-carotene. Dry heat treatment (80-100 °C for 8-12 min) was given to grains (quinoa, brown rice and flaxseed) prior to use in preparation of cereal bar. Significant variation was found after treatment of grains among all the physico-chemical and functional parameters of grains except ash content which showed a non-significant variation. Four formulations (F1, F2, F3 and F4) were developed using different combination of grains at different honey levels (40, 50 and 60%). On the basis of sensory evaluation, formulation- 4 at 50% honey level was found to be best. Selected cereal bar was assessed for physico-chemical and functional parameters. Selected cereal bar had 8.53% moisture content, 1.34% ash content, 10.50% protein content, 2.89% fat content, 0.51 mg GAE/g total phenolic content, 33.87% antioxidant activity and 0.384 µg/g ß-carotene.

Biomarkers: Non-destructive Method for Predicting Meat Tenderization.

Meat tenderness is the primary and most important quality attribute for the consumers worldwide. Tenderness is the process of breakdown of collagen tissue in meat to make it palatable. The earlier methods of tenderness evaluation like taste panels and shear force methods are destructive, time consuming and ill suited as they requires removing a piece of steak from the carcass for performing the test. Therefore, a non-destructive method for predicting the tenderness would be more desirable. The development of a meat quality grading and guarantee system through muscle profiling research can help to meet this demand. Biomarkers have the ability to identify if an exposure has occurred. Biomarkers of the meat quality are of prime importance for meat industry, which has ability to satisfy consumers' expectations. The biomarkers so far identified have been then sorted and grouped according to their common biological functions. All of them refer to a series of biological pathways including glycolytic and oxidative energy production, cell detoxification, protease inhibition and production of Heat Shock Proteins. On this basis, a detailed analysis of these metabolic pathways helps in identifying tenderization of meat having some domains of interest. It was, therefore, stressed forward that biomarkers can be used to determine meat tenderness. This review article summarizes the uses of several biomarkers for predicting the meat tenderness.

Effect of processing parameters on physico-chemical and culinary quality of dried carrot slices.

The investigation was carried out to evaluate the carrot (Daucus carota) cultivars, to optimize the pre-treatments, time and temperature combination for drying carrot slices and to assess the suitability of the dried product for culinary preparations. Among the 4 cultivars, ('PC-34', 'Sel-21', 'Ambala Local' and 'Nantes') the last one showed the best physico-chemical characteristics for dehydration. The dried carrot slices with highly desirable physico-chemical characteristics could be prepared from 4.5 mm thick slices, blanched in water at 95 °C for 4 min followed by 2 stage phase drying at 90 ± 5 °C for 2 h and at 60 ± 5 °C for 7 h in a cross-flow hot air cabinet dryer. Dipping slices in 6% potassium metabisulphite solution prior to drying improved the rehydration ratio, colour, retention of ascorbic acid and carotenoids content of dried slices. The soup and curried product prepared from dried slices had highly acceptable sensory quality with 8.5 and 8.2 scores, respectively on a 9-point Hedonic scale.