American Journal of Food Science and Technology

The holy Tulsi, also known as the “queen of herbs” is the most sacred of all the herbs found in India. This sacred plant was found in almost every Indian household. The proximate, minerals and preliminary phytochemical analysis of Ocimum sanctum leaves were studied. The nutritional analysis of Ocimum sanctum shown high level of ascorbic acid and total carbohydrate i.e., 65.41 mg/100g and 39.58% in their leaves, Whereas the total phenol was found to be maximum (1.88 mg/g) in leaves. Leaves in present investigation, contains major nutrient like N (3.30 %), P (1.10%), K (6.62 %), S (1.55 %) and Na (0.74%). Dry weight basis contains 20.64% total protein and 3.60% total fat. The oil of leaves also contains comparable amount of antioxidant as ascorbic acid, flavonoid and total phenol as well as linolenic acid, polyunsaturated fatty acid which was very good for health. According to our results, most of the identified compounds were biologically important. Further the Oscimum sanctum leaf possesses certain characteristics that can be ascribed to cultivation on a domestic plantation. Antimicrobial activity of Tulsi leaves extract was evaluated and the results shown that E. coli, E. faecalis were mostly susceptible to methanol extract than S. aureus and A. hydrophila. It can be suggested that S. aureus was the most resistant organisms to the concentrations of 20 and 40 mg/ml of the methanol extract of Ocimum. The results of this study indicated the possibility of using the leave extract of Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) as a source of antibacterial compounds for treatment of infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens.

American Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2016, 4(2), 52-57. DOI: 10.12691/ajfst-4-2-5
Pub. Date: March 12, 2016

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Preparation of Ghanaian Dish ‘Fufu’ With Evaporated Milk

by Samuel N. Osei-Djarbeng, Priscilla Osae-Akonnor, Ruth Boateng, Victoria A. Boakye-Kessie, Mary Offe-Edusei, Esther Ocran, Cecilia Fynn and Joyce Adu-Amankwah

Original Research

Fufu is a staple and well patronised traditional Ghanaian dish. It is mainly made from cassava or yam, mostly with added unripe plantain or cocoyam. The food is almost always eaten with soup. In the current study, evaporated milk has been used in preparation of the dish as well as the soup that mainly goes with the food. A ratio of 2:1 evaporated milk and water was used to prepare the food; and the soup was also prepared by using the same milk and ground-nut paste to obtain a creamy soup that had chicken as the accompaniment. Eighty percent (80%) of the five food evaluation experts who assessed the food indicated that they extremely liked the product of the new recipe; the remaining 20% also liked the food very much. The food was generally accepted by all the experts who recommended incorporation of milk into preparation of the meal from time to time. Preparation of the food with milk adds the rich nutrient components of the milk to the cassava which principally contains carbohydrate to make up for some nutrients that may be lacking in the food. Adding milk to the mainly carbohydrate-rich fufu is therefore highly recommended as this will make the food richer in nutrients required by the body. Furthermore, the study has shown that milk can be used in the preparation of main course meals apart from the normal beverages and light food in which the product is mainly used.

American Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2016, 4(2), 48-51. DOI: 10.12691/ajfst-4-2-4
Pub. Date: March 05, 2016

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Quality Characteristics of Orange/Pineapple Fruit Juice Blends

by Ohwesiri Monday Akusu, David Barine Kiin-Kabari and Caroline Onyedikachi Ebere

Original Research

Mixed fruit juices were produced from the blends of orange (Citrus cinensis) and pineapple (Ananas comosus) fruit and pasteurized at 80°C for 10 min. Packaged mixed fruit juice was purchased from the open market and used as a reference sample to study the physical, chemical and sensory properties of the juices. The physical properties studied included pH, titratable acidity, total sugar and total solid with value ranges of 3.50 – 3.97, 0.47 – 1.27%, 10.20 – 14.88% and 11.75 – 17.53%, respectively. Chemical composition of the juice blends and the reference sample showed moisture content with a range of 82.48 – 88.35% (E and F samples), crude protein 0.81 – 1.17% (samples B and A), ash 0.42 – 2.68% for samples F and A, carbohydrate 8.16 – 16.19% (A and E samples) and vitamin C with a range of 33.45 – 66.55mg/100g for samples E and A, respectively. Sensory evaluation result showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in the attributes of colour, flavour, taste and overall acceptability of the orange/pineapple juice blends compared to the reference sample. This indicates that homemade fruit juices were more acceptable than the packaged mixed fruit juices already in existence in the market. Though the values for pH and titratable acidity occurred in a reversed case which showed that these juices have the advantage of being stored for a long time, there is need to carry out further investigation to determine its shelf-life stability.

American Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2016, 4(2), 43-47. DOI: 10.12691/ajfst-4-2-3
Pub. Date: February 27, 2016

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Proximate Composition and Sensory Qualities of Chips Produced From Ackee Aril Flour

by Edward Ken Essuman, Joycelyn Anima Osei and Vida Gyimah

Original Research

People have different interests as to what product ackee fruit could be used for. A preliminary survey disclosed cake, chips and rock cake to be the preferred bakery products when ackee aril is to be blend with wheat flour. The study assessed the quality of chips produced from wheat-ackee aril composite flour. Four blends of chips were prepared in the proportions: 80:20, 60:40, 50:50 and 40:60 and wheat used as control. These were used to bake chips and proximate composition and sensory attributes of the chips were examined. Results of proximate analysis showed significant increase (p≤0.05) in protein (10.2–16.9%), fat (2.1–20.2%) and fibre (0.5–3.7%) contents and significant decrease in carbohydrate (72.3–48.1%) contents with increase in ackee aril flour. There was no significant difference in the ash content of the test samples. Sensory evaluation results showed that all chips samples had high rating for all evaluated attribute. The closeness of values obtained for all chips samples to the control sample indicate a high level of acceptance of the WF-AF chips.

American Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2016, 4(2), 38-42. DOI: 10.12691/ajfst-4-2-2
Pub. Date: February 24, 2016

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Amino Acid and Fatty Acid Profile of Twenty Wild Plants Used as Spices in Cameroon

by Armand Abdou Bouba, Roger Ponka, Goudoum Augustin, Nicolas Njintang Yanou, Mehanni Abul-Hamd El-Sayed, Didier Montet, Joël Scher and Carl Moses Mbofung

Original Research

The amino acids and fatty acids of twenty wild plants used as spices which were collected in Cameroon were investigated. The most important of total non-essential amino acids (TNEAA) contents have been found in A. daniellii (52.04%), C. frutescens (50.53%), D. psilurus (56.22%), H. gabonii (fruit) (58.81%), P. brazzeana (59.11%), S. melongena (59.78 %) and X. aethiopica (56.78%), respectively. Concerning the levels of the essential amino acids (EAA), all had EAA contents of at least 30% except E. giganteus (17.85 %), S. melongena (27.05 %), and T. tetraptera (15.85 %). For WHO protein standard, Lysine was considered as the first limiting amino acid (LAA) for A. daniellii (1.54%), P. brazzeana (16.35%) and S. striatinux (40.19 %). In addition, Meth+Cys were the second LAA for D. psilurus, E. giganteus, S. melongena, S. zenkeri (fruit), T. tetraptera, X. aethiopica (non detected); H. gabonii (fruit) (29.2%), M. myristica (6%), M. whitei (8.8 %) and P. guineense (39.2%), respectively. Spices which contained a large amounts of the essential fatty acids (ω – 3) were found in C. frutescens (31.98%), F. leprieuri (40.07 %), H. gabonii (fruit) (34.84 %), M. whitei (54.77%), P. umbellatum (39.25%), S. melongena (34.23%), S. zenkeri (fruit) (35.68%), and T. tetraptera (33.64%), respectively. Furthermore, (ω – 6) were found in D. psilurus (49.29%), H gabonii (bark) (47.91%) and F. xanthoxyloides (43.79%). In addition, (C22: 6n3) were S. zenkeri (bark) (20.45%) and X. aethiopica (30.10 %). These results show that tropical edible plants could contribute significantly to the diets of indigenous population in sub-Saharan Africa and should provide their public health.

American Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2016, 4(2), 29-37. DOI: 10.12691/ajfst-4-2-1
Pub. Date: February 23, 2016

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