Imported rice is perceived to have better cooking properties than locally grown rice in Nigeria and it has increased its market share while reducing patronage for local rice. Rice in Nigeria has many applications, including consumption as whole cooked grain or dumpling or use as an adjunct in making beverages. Eighteen varieties of parboiled milled local rice and three imported rice varieties, coded Ip1, Ip2 and Ip3, were studied for their cooking and functional properties using standard methods. There was a significant (p<0.05) increase in the dimensions of all the rice varieties when cooked. There was a 25 g increase in the grain weight and an elongation ratio of more than 1.26 in all the rice varieties. Ghesua had the highest cooked grain weight (68.67 g) while Omor-Mas (6.00) and R-Bus (6.00) had the highest volume expansion ratio (VER). The VER was more than 3.00 for all the rice varieties. All the local rice varieties imbibed less water (17.67-25.33 ml) compared to the imported rice varieties (26.00-27.67ml) before they reached their optimum cooking time. The imported rice varieties were of soft gel consistency (89.67-73.50 mm) and intermediate amylose content (20.71-23.14 %) while the local rice varied in amylose and gel consistency. Abakiliki-Mas (27.00 mm) and R-8 (33.67 mm) were of hard gel-consistency, intermediate (21.11 %) and high amylose (27.21 %) content respectively and have not been exploited although they would be appropriate for making canned rice, dry mixes and rice-noodles.

Nicotiana rustica L. (Aztec tobacco) is the only Nicotiana species, except common tobacco (N. tabacum L.), which is cultivated for tabacco products. The leaves of N. rustica, however, accumulate various specialized metabolites of potential interest. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate certain classes of metabolites (by HPLC and GC-MS) in the leaves, the essential oil (EO), concrete and resinoid of N. rustica. Three pentacyclic triterpenes were identified in the leaves (by HPLC): betulin (252.78 µg g-1), betulinic (182.53 µg g-1) and oleanolic  (69.44 µg g-1) acids. The dominant free phenolic acids in the leaves (by HPLC) were rosmarinic (4257.38 µg g-1) and chlorogenic (1714.40 µg g-1), and conjugated forms of vanillic (3445.71 µg g-1), sinapic (1963.11 µg g-1), and syringic (1784.96 µg g-1). The major flavonoids in the leaves were luteolin (960.44 µg g-1), apigenin (880.66 µg g-1) and hyperosid (780.72 µg g-1). The GS-MS profiling of the EO identified 19 components and the major ones were phytol (43.68 %), solanone (5.54 %), cis-5-butyl-4-methyldihydrofuran-2(3H)-one (5.23 %), dihydro-β-ionone (4.25 %), α-ionene (3.54 %),and β-damascenone (3.03 %). The major volatiles in the concrete were  isoamyl alcohol (28.82 %), oxynicotine (9.02 %), phytol (7.80 %), 4-mеthyl-1-penthanol (6.33 %), cotinine (5.55 %) and 3-metyl-3-penthanol (4.09 %). Resinoid composition was dominant by nicotine (39.75 %), phytol (11.23 %), eicosane (4.88 %), diethyl phthalate (4.19 %), dibutyl phthalate (3.48 %) and solanone (3.27 %). Concrete and resinoid showed weak antibacterial activity . These results create grounds for considering N. rustica as a source to obtain aroma or other bioproducts.

The aim of the present work was to develop a new soy-based food product and evaluate its chemical and sensory properties. A soy-based snack was mixed with rice (Oryza sativa), fortified with eicos-apentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) Omega-3 fatty acids from sh by-products in encapsulated and emulsion form. Soy beans were subjected to grinding processes, maceration in pure distilled water, filtration and pasteurization, to obtain vegetable drinks and generate solid residue. Finally, a sensory analysis of the product obtained was carried out. The snacks protein content was around 17%. From the sensory evaluation, it could be concluded that the snacks with 50% of okara had great acceptability and the addition of Omega-3 was also acceptable. So, okara represents an excellent raw material that can be utilized for dietary protein fortification. On the other hand, it proposes based on soy and fish by-products allow sustainable development and contribute to the economy of each sector.

Rice bran (RB) is a good source of dietary fibre. Addition of rice bran into croissant interferes with the gluten formation of dough and hence affect the physicochemical properties of croissant. The effect of RB addition on physicochemical properties of croissant were determined by using 0%, 10% and 15% RB. Besides, additives such as emulsifiers and enzymes can be used in pastry to enhance the physicochemical properties of croissant. Diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono-diglycerides (DATEM) and transglutaminase (TGase) were used respectively on 0%, 10% and 15% RB to investigate the effect of such additives on physicochemical properties of croissant. Increased % RB and DATEM, produced a significant decrease in specific volume, together with a significant increase in colour, hardness and chewiness. With increased % RB, TGase caused significant increase in colour, hardness and chewiness but significant decrease in specic volume. The overall moisture sorption isotherm curves of the croissant belong to the Type III isotherm, also known as Flory-Huggins Isotherm (J-shaped). The critical aw obtained from the Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB) equation showed that the shelf life of croissants were not positively impacted by the addition of DATEM and TGase and the addition of RB did not cause any significant positive effects on quality characteristics of croissants.

The objective of this work was to study the effect of seaweed (Eucheuma cottonii) our addition on physicochemical and sensory characteristics of an Indonesian-style beef meatball. Seaweed flour (SF) was added to meatball batter at 0% (CON), 2.5% (SF2.5), 5.0% (SF5) and 7.5% (SF7.5) in weight/meat weight (w/w) basis. Proximate composition (moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber and ash content), pH, cooking loss, hardness, water-holding capacity, instrumental color and sensory properties (color, texture, aroma, taste and overall acceptability) of the boiled meatballs were evaluated. The effect of seaweed our addition was very significant (P<0.01) on moisture, crude fat, crude fiber, ash, cooking loss, hardness, water holding capacity, lightness (L*), yellowness (b*) and all sensory properties, and was significant (P<0.05) on crude protein, pH and the redness (a*) of a boiled Indonesian-style beef meatball. The addition of seaweed flour at more than 2.5% resulted in darker meatballs, with less protein and fat, and a stronger seaweed aroma. The results suggest that seaweed flour could be added at 2.5% (w/w) to produce an Indonesian-style beef meatball with enhanced ber content.

Black and green olive pulp was added to wheat bread formulation at different levels (5, 10, 15%) with the aim to improve its nutritional value by enhancing the phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. Additionally, the effects of the fortification with olive pulp on the physical characteristics, staling rate and overall consumer acceptability of the formulated breads were explored. Both olive pulps exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activity than refined wheat flour. Baking imparted an impressive increase in TPC, TFC and antioxidant activity of breads as revealed by comparison of experimental with theoretical values but returned significant differences only in the case of TPC when a two-tailed t-test for paired data was applied. Texture measurements showed a substantial increase in hardness with storage along with decreasing loaf volume and increased density. Hydroxytyrosol was the major phenolic compound of fortified breads followed by tyrosol. Olive pulp could be incorporated in a bread formulation without interfering with the general sensory acceptability.

An attempt has been made to evaluate antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxicity properties of extracts from onion (Allium cepa L.), garlic (Allium sativum), leaves of guava (Psidium guajava), papaya (Carica papaya), tea (Camellia sinensis), baen (Avicennia alba) and keora (Sonneratia apetala), respectively to apply as natural preservatives for tomatoes. The air-dried plant materials of the respective plant species were subjected to ethanol-methanol extraction, concentrated and stored at 4 °C before use. The extracts were dissolved in 95% ethanol for analysis of antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Of the extracts tested, tea extracts showed the highest zone of inhibition against several pathogenic bacteria (E. coli 35.0±3.2 mm; P. aeruginosa 29.3±2.6 mm; S. typhi 28.4±2.1 mm and S. pyogenes 27.7±3.7 mm) using the disc diffusion method. In regard to DPPH free radical scavenging assay, keora and guava extracts showed the highest percentage of radical scavenging activity with the values of 89.64± 0.18 and 89.39± 0.88, respectively, which were in agreement with higher total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of these extracts obtained by the phosphomolybdenum method. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay for cytotoxicity assessment showed LC50 of 132.54 ± 18.99 µg/mL for the leaf extract of keora which was found to be most toxic among all studied extracts. The initial results indicated that the extracts could be used for food preservative applications based on the antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxicity properties of the tested extracts. However, efficacy, stability and safety issues need to be addressed with both in vitro and in vivo studies.

Eggs and their products such as desserts, confectioneries, bakery mixes, mayonnaise and many convenience foods have been implicated in food-borne disease outbreaks due to microorganism contamination. The effect of gamma irradiation on the presence of microorganisms in egg powder was investigated. Egg powder samples were exposed to several doses of irradiation: 0, 5, 10 and 15 kGy and stored for up to 12 months at ambient temperature (25 oC). Results indicated that the total viable count (TVC) (5.56 log10 cfu g-1), total coliform counts (TCC) (6.46 log10 cfu g-1) and mold and yeast counts (MYC) (9.12 log10 cfu g) in un-irradiated (control) samples of egg powder were higher than the maximum limits (4.88, 2.00 and 1.70 log10 cfu g-1, respectively). Application of the higher doses (10 and 15 kGy) decreased the TVC, TCC and MYC of the egg powder samples to less than 1 log10 cfu g-1 and the counts remained almost constant during storage for 12 months. D10 values for Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium were 0.714 and 0.278 kGy, respectively. Gamma irradiation treatment could be chosen on the basis of preliminary microbiological tests including TVC, TCC and MYC and help improve the hygienic quality by killing and reducing the microorganisms that might be present inside of egg powder to meet national and international standards.

The aim of this work was to study the influence of the ripening degree of natural goat cheese on texture, rheological and sensory properties of processed cheese products. Processed cheeses were formulated using goat cheeses with 10, 20, and 40 days of ripening. We obtained four different formulations by varying the proportions of these cheeses in each formulation. The variation in major α, β, and para-κ casein fractions, rheological properties, and the texture of samples were determined, and a sensorial evaluation was carried out. Cheeses from Formulation 2 (50% cheese ripened for 10 days, 25% cheese ripened for 20 days and 25% cheese ripened for 40 days) had greater values of α and β –caseins, which is related to a greater content of intact casein resulting from a cheese with short ripening time. Hardness, adhesiveness and complex modulus (G*) decreased as the degree of ripening of the natural cheese (raw material) increased. Formulation 2 presented a G* value similar to that of the commercial processed cow cheese and the greatest firmness. Formulation 2 presented the characteristics we aimed to obtain, described as spreadable, slightly acid and salty cheese.

Different parameters in cider processing were evaluated using different cultivars of Norwegian-grown table apples measuring the quality of cider. Seven different apple cultivars were mixed into four different apple juice mixtures. In this experiment, we evaluated the maturation of the apples along with commercial cider yeast and spontaneous alcoholic fermentation. Other parameters were fermentation temperature and filtration along with content of polyphenols, organic acids and volatile compounds that was analysed as an effect of the fermentation process. Succinic acid was the major organic acid in apples and ciders. The different apple juice mixtures did not reveal pyruvic and acetic acids but they appeared in relatively high amount in the ciders. The level of citric acid increased from apple to cider. Chlorogenic acid was the major polyphenolic compound found from 13-109 mg L-1 in the apple juice mixtures and between 27-200 mg L-1 in the ciders. The higher alcohol 3-methyl-1-butanol appeared in relatively large amounts in all the ciders (91-166 mg L-1). The average content of acetaldehyde increased during the fermentation process, from apple juice mixtures 2.75 mg L-1 and 14.65 mg L-1 in the ciders. The content also increased for ethyl acetate with levels at 0.1 mg L-1 in the apple juice mixture and 20 mg L-1 in the cider. In the sensory evaluation experiment, the ciders produced from the apple cultivars Aroma, Gravenstein and Summerred got higher scores in fruitiness and complexity compared to the other apple juice mixtures.