Browsing by Author "Wijesekara, I."
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Item Assessment of Composition and Functional Properties of Traditional Yam Varieties and Development of Value Added Muffins(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2019) Gunasekara, G.D.M.; Kalhari, D.L.S.; Wickramasinghe, I.; Wijesekara, I.Sri Lanka has many underutilized yams with high nutritional potential. With the urbanization and changing food habits most of these underutilized yams have lost their significance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the composition and functional properties of five selected underutilized yam varieties in Sri Lanka; “Raja ala” (Dioscorea alata), “Kidaran ala” (Amorphophallus campanulatus), “Buthsarana-green” (Canna indica), “Buthsarana – red” (Canna indica), and “Katu ala” (Dioscorea pentaphylla). Moreover, their value addition was carried out with the development of gluten free muffins using “Raja ala” flour with food gums including pectin at the rate of 0.3% (w/w based on flour). The composition analysis was carried out to calculate the moisture content, crude protein content, total fat content and total ash content of the yam samples. Then, the texture profile of muffins were analyzed through the parameters hardness, deformation, adhesiveness, cohesiveness and springiness. The moisture content of “Raja ala” was the highest (7.75 ± 0.09%) and the lowest was recorded in “Buthsarana-red” (6.41 ± 0.04%). All five varieties were low in fat content and highest was recorded in “Raja ala” (1.09 ± 0.01%). The crude protein content of “Rala ala” and “Kidaran ala” were 4.28 ± 0.13%, 5.70 ± 0.11%, respectively. The highest ash content was recorded in “Kidaran ala” (4.711 ± 0.36%). Functional properties of the five varieties were illustrated by the water holding capacity and oil holding capacity. The highest oil holding capacity and the highest water holding capacity were recorded in “Kidaran ala” with values 77.04 ± 2.95% and 243.08 ± 2.56%, respectively. By incorporating pectin, gluten free muffins were prepared with “Raja ala” flour. According to the results, the hardness at cycle 1 and cycle 2 were 6065 g and 4335 g, respectively. Also the stringiness length, cohesiveness, adhesiveness and springiness were 14.63 mm, 0.31, 11.30 mJ and 36.46 mm, respectively.Item Biochemical Analysis of Underutilized Seaweed Ulva lactuca from Matara, Sri Lanka and Its Application in the Development of a Nutribar(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2018) Udayangani, R.M.A.C.; Wijesekara, I.; Wickramasinghe, I.Compared to land based agriculture, ocean farm seems to be more sustainable as it does not required land, fresh water and chemical fertilizers. Therefore cultivation of seaweeds has the ability to grow mammoth amounts of nutrient-rich food for humanoid consumption. The underutilized macro algae U. lactuca was manually collected during July, 2017 from Thalaramba coast Matara, Down South; Sri Lanka. Then cleaned seaweeds were subjected to oven drying at 60 °C for 8 h. Proximate composition, minerals from inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), swelling capacity (SWC), water holding capacity (WHC) and oil holding capacity (OHC) were evaluated. Finally crude protein contents and radical scavenging activities were investigated for 0, 5 and 10% algal incorporated nutribars. Moisture content of fresh algae was 80.08±0.61% and dry matter content was 19.92±0.61%. The crude protein content found in green algae was 20.16±0.16%. Iron was the dominant mineral present in U lactuca (363.03 ±13.54 mg kg-l). Cell wall polysaccharide content obtained was 17.21%. In this study WHC of pulverized U lactuca was about 4.39 g of water per g of dry matter. SWC was 1.00±0.10 mg/g and OHC was 2.22 g/g at room temperature (25 °C). Significantly the highest protein content (8.55±0.38%) was inspected for 10% algal added nutribar while 7.54±0.15% for 0% and 7.89±0.03% for 5% algal added nutribar also the highest radical scavenging activity (34.47%) was observed in 10% U lactuca added nutribar. Therefore incorporation of under-utilized green algae can significantly increase the protein content and antioxidant activity of the nutribar. Moreover it can be used to develop novel healthy and nutritious foods in Sri Lanka.Item Development of an Alginate Based Edible Coating and its Application on Unripen Pre- cut Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam)(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2021) Jayakody, M.M.; Vanniarachchy, M.P.G.; Wijesekara, I.Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam) is a fruit which is highly demanded by Asians. It is a large fruit which is difficult to peel, therefore consumers prefer to buy it ready to cook. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of application of an alginate based edible coating on quality parameters of pre-cut jackfruit samples. Alginate is a polysaccharide which can be used in development of coatings and films using its gelling property. Alginate for the study was extracted from Sargassum sp. by hot extraction method. An FT-IR analysis was done to confirm the presence of functional groups of extracted sodium alginate. FT-IR analysis resulted peaks at wavenumbers (cm-1), 1562.973, 849.208, 949.176 and 3461.391. According to previous literature, appearance of peaks at these wavenumbers indicated the presence of carboxylate, mannuronic acid, uronic acid and an O-H groups respectively. 1% alginate based edible coating was developed using extracted alginate to apply on pre-cut jackfruit samples which are to be stored for 5 days under refrigerated conditions (6+1 0C).Total soluble solid content (TSS), weight loss percentage, titrable acidity, pH and ascorbic acid content of coated and uncoated jackfruit samples were measured for a period of 5 days. According to the results, TSS and pH of both coated and uncoated samples has increased. On the fifth day, a significantly higher TSS and a pH value was observed in the uncoated sample. Weight loss was observed in both coated and uncoated samples. During the storage period of 5 days, a significantly higher weight loss percentage was observed in uncoated sample than the coated sample. Titratable acidity decreased during the storage period. Significantly higher decrement in the titratable acidity was observed in uncoated sample. Ascorbic acid content was decreased during the storage period but there was no any significant difference in the decrement of ascorbic acid content between coated and uncoated sample. Thus, within 5 days of storage lesser weight loss and better- quality values of Tss, titratable acidity and pH were obtained for jackfruit samples coated with 1% alginate. Microbial analysis and sensory analysis of the study is in progress. Keywords: Jack fruit; Alginate; Edible coating; Packaging; Shelf lifeItem Flour Properties of Selected Traditional Yam Varieties and Development of Gluten Free Muffins from “Maha angili ala” (Dioscorea alata) Flour(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2019) Kalhari, D.L.S.; Gunasekara, G.D.M.; Wijesekara, I.; Wickramasinghe, I.In the present study, physico-chemical properties of flour obtained from four varieties of traditional and underutilized yams such as, Dioscorea alata (“Hingurala” and “Maha angili ala”), Dioscorea esculenta (“Kukulala”) and Dioscorea bulbilifera (“Udala”) were investigated. Moreover, a gluten-free muffin was developed from “Maha angili ala” flour incorporating pectin, guar gum and xanthan separately for the first time in Sri Lanka. Proximate analysis conducted according to the AOAC procedures revealed that the moisture contents of four varieties were in between 4.94 ± 0.11% to 5.89 ± 0.11%, fat contents were ranged from 0.55 ± 0.18% to 0.84 ± 0.45%, protein contents were in between 4.53 ± 0.55% to 4.99 ± 0.29% and ash content ranged from 2.39 ± 0.18% to 3.52 ± 0.18%. The color values L*, a*, b* obtained from colorimeter were ranged from 54.06 ± 1.56 to 85.19 ± 2.14, 1.74 ± 0.33 to 10.92 ± 1.24 and 7.82 ± 0.33 to 28.33 ± 0.86, respectively. Moisture, fat, protein and ash contents of pectin, guar gum and xanthan incorporated muffins were 77.67 ± 0.53%, 82.91 ± 0.24%, 81.23 ± 0.78%, 12.25 ± 1.11%, 17.54 ± 1.93%, 11.99 ± 2.24%, 6.13 ± 0.17%, 5.72 ± 0.05%, 16.75 ± 0.19%, 2.75 ± 0.12%, 3.65 ± 0.06% and 1.93 ± 0.14%, respectively. L*, a*, b* values of three type of muffins ranged from 27.69 ± 1.13 to 31.92 ± 0.65, 12.22 ± 1.34 to 13.54 ± 1.16 and 12.11 ± 1.15 to 13.46 ± 2.32, respectively. The microscopic observation of flours revealed that the granular shapes of four varieties, “Hingurala” and “Maha angili ala” had oval shaped granules. In addition, the granular shape of “Kukulala” was polygonal and “Udala” contained coma shaped granules. Smallest granular shape was observed from “Kukulala”. Collectively, this study suggested that “Maha angili ala” flour could be a potential source to develop gluten free muffins and analysis of the product quality parameters of the muffins are in progress.Item Physico-chemical Characterization of Cookies Enriched with Sugarcane Bagasse Fibers(Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2018) Vijerathna, M.P.G.; Wijesekara, I.; Wickramasinghe, I.; Maralanda, S.M.T.A.; Jayasinghe, M.A.Sugarcane cultivation and sugar development processes are mainly located in the Uva Province of Sri Lanka. Sugarcane bagasse is a by-product of sugarcane processing and riches in insoluble dietary fibers. Sugarcane stems are crushed in the treacle, jaggery, and sugar industries to obtain the juice and the remaining plant residues called bagasse. The objective of this study was to develop cookies enriched with sugarcane bagasse fibers as a fiber source with no added sugar. Bagasse (with or without peel) were collected from a jaggery manufacturing plant and they were dried, grinded, and sieved to obtain bagasse powders (moisture content, 3%). The fiber content (%) of bagasse powders with and without peel were 12.43±0.30 and 8.61±0.38, respectively. Furthermore, the bagasse with peel contained the highest total phenolic content (1270±3.36 µg GAE/ g) than bagasse without peel (721 jig GAE/ g). In addition, water holding capacities of with peel and without peel bagasse were 485.9±29.1 and 804.06±1.78 g/100 g, respectively. These two types of bagasse powders at 0 (control), 5 and 10 % (w/w) ratios were enriched to develop five types of cookies. According to the sensory evaluation, the 5% bagasse with peel cookies showed the highest overall acceptability than other bagasse enriched cookies but lesser overall acceptability than the control. Moreover, 5% with peel bagasse cookies significantly differ from without peel bagasse cookies in overall acceptability. Collectively, this study suggested the potential application and valueaddition of sugarcane bagasse in cookies manufacturing.