Abstract The objective of the current investigation was to evaluate the okra before cooking (fresh) and after cooking to determine the best cooking method by using compositional analysis, colour, texture, sensory evaluation and pesticide residues reduction. The cooking methods used were steam blanching, simmering, baking and sautéing. Cooking treatments resulted in a momentous increase (p < 0.05) in crude fibre and fat content during sautéing and total carbohydrate in baking in comparison to control. The CIE lab coordinates (L* and b*) significantly decreased while a* increased in all cooking treatments except in baking. The texture analysis revealed a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in shear force N (Newton) due to contact of the heating medium in moist cooking i.e. steam blanching and simmering. Sautéing and steam blanching scored better and showed acceptance of the consumers except simmering that exhibited lower acceptability (p < 0.01). Moreover, among the analyzed pesticide residues, minimum reduction occurred in cypermethrin (8.57-37.14-%), while the chlorpyrifos was completely removed in case of baking and sautéing. Among all cooking treatments, only sautéing resulted in maximum pesticide residues reduction. The study revealed that the sautéing cooking treatment was best to preserve the vegetable nutrients compounds, maximum pesticide residues reduction and maybe among preferred cooking treatments.

Abstract Hard textural attributes of chickpea necessitate the employment of specialized pretreatment prior to roasting. As compared to frying, the Intensification of Vaporization by Decompression to the Vacuum (IVDV) as a vacuum expansion (VE) technique was utilized to improve and preserve the nutritional, textural, and structural properties of chickpeas. It was clearly demonstrated that frying (FR) caused decrease in degrees of lightness in chickpeas as compared to VE samples. Raw and VE samples showed a combination of green and red colors. VE caused C=O stretching in chickpeas and imparted desirable color. The surface fissures were more evident in FR grains as compared to VE grains. The grain structure was modified from largely ovoid to round or spherical forms. Enhanced cross-linking was observed in VE samples due to stable rheological properties. IVDV improved nutritional, color and structural attributes of chickpeas were preserved after texturization.

Abstract Calcium fortification is usually achieved by employing wheat flour as the most frequently used vehicle. In this study, potential of calcium extraction from chicken eggshell and its utilization as a bread fortificant in straight grade flour (SGF) is investigated. In addition, the fortified and unfortified (control) flour samples were evaluated for nutrient composition and rheological properties. Results showed that addition of fortificant at different concentrations significantly (p<0.05) enhanced calcium content of fortified flour and it was considerably increased from 115.80 mg/kg (To) to 1135.1 mg/kg (T3). Nutrient composition data of fortified flour have shown a significant (p<0.05) reduction in moisture content of flour from 12.7% (To) to 11.76% (T3) and protein content from 9.89% (To) to 9.79% (T3). However, a significant increase in ash content was observed by increasing fortificant level from 0.54% (To) to 1.04% (T3). Rheological properties indicated a significant increase in water absorption from 63.60 to 67.527%, dough development time (DDT) from 7.38 to 11.37 min and dough stability from 13.79 to 17.37 min. Textural characteristics of fortified bread revealed a significant reduction for hardness values from 11.40 N (control) to 6.50 N (T3) in response to fortificant addition. Quality assessment of bread indicated that bread quality was significantly affected with corresponding rises in fortificant addition levels.

Abstract To explore the protective effect of sesame seed oil (SSO) extracted from Til-06 sesame variety in Sprague-Dawley male rats against the management of hypercholesterolemia, the current two-phase study was conducted. In the first phase, oil was taken out from the sesame seeds (Til-06) and physicochemical analysis was carried out to find out the content of oil following by the evaluation of the quality attributes of extracted oil. In the second phase, efficacy was carried out to check the hyperlipidemic activity of sesame seed oil. Randomly distributed twenty (20) rats into 5 different groups with four (04) rats in each group and for 60 days fed as follow; the first group was fed on a basal diet, while the other groups were fed with 2, 4, 6 and 8% SSO plus basal diet. Blood samples were collected at the beginning and end of the study for biochemical study i.e. lipid profile which includes high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and antioxidant status. Findings of the present study indicate that the oral administration of SSO significantly (P < 0.05) improved the antioxidant status with lower TC, LDL-C, TG, VLDL-C, and higher HDL-C values of hypercholesterolemic rats.