Development of a vitamin C-rich baobab beverage
(2019) KLGM01 20191Food Technology and Nutrition (M.Sc.)
- Abstract
- It is challenging for the food industry to deliver products that satisfy consumers changing desires and needs. Baobab is a fruit that holds potential for the development of trendy food products due to its rich nutritional profile and unique rheology. Unlike most fruits, it contains a dry pulp with a moisture content of 11-12 % (Phytotrade, 2008). Despite these features, baobab has been overlooked and there is a gap in the Swedish market for baobab products. This project aimed to develop a nutritious beverage using hydrated baobab pulp as its main ingredient. In order to assure high nutritional value, ascorbic acid was analysed to claim for ‘’high amount of’’ vitamin C (according to EFSA) in the product; no sugars could be added. On the... (More)
- It is challenging for the food industry to deliver products that satisfy consumers changing desires and needs. Baobab is a fruit that holds potential for the development of trendy food products due to its rich nutritional profile and unique rheology. Unlike most fruits, it contains a dry pulp with a moisture content of 11-12 % (Phytotrade, 2008). Despite these features, baobab has been overlooked and there is a gap in the Swedish market for baobab products. This project aimed to develop a nutritious beverage using hydrated baobab pulp as its main ingredient. In order to assure high nutritional value, ascorbic acid was analysed to claim for ‘’high amount of’’ vitamin C (according to EFSA) in the product; no sugars could be added. On the other hand, approximately 30 % of the pulp is pectin, which limited the amount possible to disperse in water until the product became too viscous for pouring and handling. The low pH of 3.30 ± 0.02 of the fruit could be perceived as too sour, standing as a limitation for its use and application in food products. Hydrated baobab pulp with approximately 15 % (w/w) concentration of pulp was the assessed limit concentration to work with in a lab scale while maximising the amount present of vitamin C. The preparation was done by heating the whole fruit with water at 40 °C for 20 min on a cooking heating plate until all of the pulp was extracted from the seed and dispersed in water, subsequently applying filtration. A focus group was conducted to evaluate the acceptability of this product and results showed that the product was too viscous and sour for it to be appealing. To reduce viscosity an enzymatic treatment was applied after filtration. The hydrated baobab pulp was incubated with pectinase at 50 °C for 2 h in a water-bath with constant agitation at 200 rpm. Initial viscosity of hydrated baobab pulp was 16178 ± 1260 mPa.s and after enzymatic treatment was reduced to values of 527 ± 14.0 mPa.s. The ascorbic acid was analysed in a batch of baobab stored for 2 years (UOB) and in newly stored baobab with (UNB) and without enzymatic treatment (TNB) applied. The fluorimetry analysis using potassium permanganate showed the ascorbic acid content of UOB, UNB and TNB to be 427 ± 19.8, 630 ± 1.63 and 553 ± 16.1 mg/100 g fruit pulp, respectively. These high values were in agreement with the varying values of 150-499 mg/ 100 g of fruit pulp that had been described in literature (Phytotrade, 2008; Temo et al., 2017). A final focus group was conducted to study the marketability potential of the pectinase treated hydrated baobab pulp. In addition, a liquid oat base product (LOB) was added to the formulation in order to adjust the balance between sweet and sour. The results evidenced that both texture and viscosity was improved in samples with and without LOB when enzymatic treatment was performed. However, the beverage with LOB was preferred by 40 % being that 60 % stated that in both beverages the sweetness needed to be increased in order for the product to be successfully launched. The 15 % (w/w) hydrated baobab pulp could serve as a base for products, but not solely be the component of a beverage. The yield of production was 38.5 ± 0.444 for 1 kg and 27.3 ± 0.513 for 2 kg. Results showed the yield was significantly reduced when going from 1 to 2 kg, but potentially this issue could be solved with proper industrial up-scaling. In conclusion, 15 % (w/w) hydrated baobab pulp carried 81.3 mg/ 100 g product of vitamin C (above the RDA) and with 28 g it was possible to carry a claim for high content of vitamin C. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- In the Western world modern diets are relying too much on sugary goods and processed fast foods with an overall poor nutritional value. There is an urgent need to include more rich fruits and veggies packed with fibre, vitamins and minerals in our diets, not just from a health perspective, but also from a sustainability point of view. From this consumer need to shift diets there is a gap in the market and with it an opportunity for the food industry to develop new appealing products from a nutritional point of view.
Baobab fruit, originally from Africa (colloquially referred as a ‘’superfood’’) stands out because of its naturally low water content which holds a high amount of vitamin C, iron, fibre and several other nutrients. So far... (More) - In the Western world modern diets are relying too much on sugary goods and processed fast foods with an overall poor nutritional value. There is an urgent need to include more rich fruits and veggies packed with fibre, vitamins and minerals in our diets, not just from a health perspective, but also from a sustainability point of view. From this consumer need to shift diets there is a gap in the market and with it an opportunity for the food industry to develop new appealing products from a nutritional point of view.
Baobab fruit, originally from Africa (colloquially referred as a ‘’superfood’’) stands out because of its naturally low water content which holds a high amount of vitamin C, iron, fibre and several other nutrients. So far there is no commercially available baobab beverage in the Swedish market. Therefore, the project was developed to explore the hydration potential of baobab’s chalky pulp to further incorporate on a marketable sugar-free beverage. Differently from other baobab products, it was important to preserve a rich taste and appealing mouthfeel, while carrying a nutritional claim for ‘’high amount of vitamin C’’ (30 % the RDA according to EFSA).
In order to prepare the hydrated baobab pulp (HBP) the fruit was mixed with water and heated at 40 °C for 20 min. The obtained warm paste was then filtered to remove seeds and filamentous fibres. During the experiments 15 % pulp was found to be the ideal concentration since if the fruit content was more than 2/5 of the HBP, then the resulting warm paste would be too viscous to efficiently handle and incorporate in a liquid beverage. Pectin, a soluble fibre with thickening properties, was found to account for more than 30 % of the fruit’s pulp. According to this finding, a treatment was applied after filtration in order to stop pectin from acting and allowing the product to flow. To achieve this HBP was left in a water-bath with constant agitation for 2 h at 50 °C with pectinase (substance that cuts pectin’s structure). The viscosity of hydrated baobab pulp was successfully reduced from a very thick to a fluid-like product suitable for a beverage. In addition, the vitamin C content in the fruit’s pulp after treatment was found to be around 553/100 g fruit pulp, in agreement with what has been described in literature. To study the marketability potential of the treated hydrated baobab pulp, a liquid oat base product (LOB) was added to the formulation in order to adjust the balance between sweetness and the characteristic sourness of baobab. After an untrained group of people tried the samples, observations showed that taste, texture and mouthfeel was improved in samples with and without LOB when treatment was performed.
In conclusion, 15 % (w/w) hydrated baobab pulp could serve as a base for products with a rich nutritional profile, but not solely be the component of a beverage. It contained 81.3 mg/ 100 g product of vitamin C (above the RDA) and with 28 g it was possible to carry a claim for high content of vitamin C. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8998315
- author
- Ferrari Rodrigues de Pina, Raquel LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- KLGM01 20191
- year
- 2019
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Food technology, Livsmedelsteknologi
- language
- English
- id
- 8998315
- date added to LUP
- 2019-12-20 13:56:11
- date last changed
- 2019-12-20 13:56:11
@misc{8998315,
abstract = {{It is challenging for the food industry to deliver products that satisfy consumers changing desires and needs. Baobab is a fruit that holds potential for the development of trendy food products due to its rich nutritional profile and unique rheology. Unlike most fruits, it contains a dry pulp with a moisture content of 11-12 % (Phytotrade, 2008). Despite these features, baobab has been overlooked and there is a gap in the Swedish market for baobab products. This project aimed to develop a nutritious beverage using hydrated baobab pulp as its main ingredient. In order to assure high nutritional value, ascorbic acid was analysed to claim for ‘’high amount of’’ vitamin C (according to EFSA) in the product; no sugars could be added. On the other hand, approximately 30 % of the pulp is pectin, which limited the amount possible to disperse in water until the product became too viscous for pouring and handling. The low pH of 3.30 ± 0.02 of the fruit could be perceived as too sour, standing as a limitation for its use and application in food products. Hydrated baobab pulp with approximately 15 % (w/w) concentration of pulp was the assessed limit concentration to work with in a lab scale while maximising the amount present of vitamin C. The preparation was done by heating the whole fruit with water at 40 °C for 20 min on a cooking heating plate until all of the pulp was extracted from the seed and dispersed in water, subsequently applying filtration. A focus group was conducted to evaluate the acceptability of this product and results showed that the product was too viscous and sour for it to be appealing. To reduce viscosity an enzymatic treatment was applied after filtration. The hydrated baobab pulp was incubated with pectinase at 50 °C for 2 h in a water-bath with constant agitation at 200 rpm. Initial viscosity of hydrated baobab pulp was 16178 ± 1260 mPa.s and after enzymatic treatment was reduced to values of 527 ± 14.0 mPa.s. The ascorbic acid was analysed in a batch of baobab stored for 2 years (UOB) and in newly stored baobab with (UNB) and without enzymatic treatment (TNB) applied. The fluorimetry analysis using potassium permanganate showed the ascorbic acid content of UOB, UNB and TNB to be 427 ± 19.8, 630 ± 1.63 and 553 ± 16.1 mg/100 g fruit pulp, respectively. These high values were in agreement with the varying values of 150-499 mg/ 100 g of fruit pulp that had been described in literature (Phytotrade, 2008; Temo et al., 2017). A final focus group was conducted to study the marketability potential of the pectinase treated hydrated baobab pulp. In addition, a liquid oat base product (LOB) was added to the formulation in order to adjust the balance between sweet and sour. The results evidenced that both texture and viscosity was improved in samples with and without LOB when enzymatic treatment was performed. However, the beverage with LOB was preferred by 40 % being that 60 % stated that in both beverages the sweetness needed to be increased in order for the product to be successfully launched. The 15 % (w/w) hydrated baobab pulp could serve as a base for products, but not solely be the component of a beverage. The yield of production was 38.5 ± 0.444 for 1 kg and 27.3 ± 0.513 for 2 kg. Results showed the yield was significantly reduced when going from 1 to 2 kg, but potentially this issue could be solved with proper industrial up-scaling. In conclusion, 15 % (w/w) hydrated baobab pulp carried 81.3 mg/ 100 g product of vitamin C (above the RDA) and with 28 g it was possible to carry a claim for high content of vitamin C.}},
author = {{Ferrari Rodrigues de Pina, Raquel}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Development of a vitamin C-rich baobab beverage}},
year = {{2019}},
}