The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of dehydration on nutrient composition of Amaranthus gangeticus, Chenopodium album, Centella asiatica, Amaranthus tricolor and Trigonella foenum graecum. The green leafy vegetables (GLV) were steam blanched for 5 min after pretreatment and dried in an oven at 60°C for 10-12 h. The fresh and dehydrated samples were analyzed for selected proximate constituents, vitamins, minerals, antinutrients and dialyzable minerals. Dehydration seems to have little effect on the proximate, mineral and antinutrient content of the GLV. Among the vitamins, retention of ascorbic acid was 1-14%, thiamine 22-71%, total carotene 49-73% and β-carotene 20-69% respectively, of their initial content. Dialyzable iron and calcium in the fresh vegetables ranged between 0.21-3.5 mg and 15.36-81.33 mg/100 g respectively, which reduced to 0.05-0.53 mg and 6.94-58.15 mg/ 100 g on dehydration. Dehydration seems to be the simplest convenient technology for preserving these sources of micronutrients, especially when they are abundantly available. Irrespective of the losses of vitamins that take place during dehydration, dehydrated GLV are a concentrated natural source of micronutrients and they can be used in product formulations. Value addition of traditional products with dehydrated GLV can be advocated as a feasible foodbased approach to combat micronutrient malnutrition.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of incorporation of selected additives on fat uptake and sensory quality of two traditional deep fried snacks.Design/methodology/approachA wheat‐based snack Diamond cuts, and a rice and gram‐based spicy snack Kodbale, were chosen. The products were prepared by incorporating to the dough, 0.2, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 per cent of 11 different additives like gum acacia, gum Tragacanth, Methylcellulose, Gaur Gum, Pectin, Gum Karaya, Gum Carageenan, Xanthan Gum, Gum Gellan, Seafoam and Beligara. Products were evaluated for sensory attributes and fat uptake was estimated by soxhlet extraction.FindingsResults indicated that average fat uptake in Diamond cuts and Kodbale was 28.00 and 30 per cent, respectively. In Diamond cuts, while addition of additives did not alter fat uptake remarkably, a slight decrease in the case of gum Tragacanth (0.2 per cent) and Gaur Gum and Gum Carageenan (0.75 per cent) was observed. Statistical analysis of sensory attributes revealed only a marginal difference in textural quality of Diamond cuts incorporated with Gaur Gum, Pectin and Beligara. In Kodbale, fat uptake was marginally lowered by the addition of Gaur Gum, gum Tragacanth, Xanthan Gum and Gum Carageenan at 0.75 per cent. No significant differences were observed among the sensory qualities except for marginal differences in textural quality of Kodbale incorporated with Gaur Gum, Gum Carageenan and Beligara. It can be concluded that addition of additives did not influence the fat uptake or sensory quality of fried products studied to a significant extent.Originality/valueSince some of the additives improved textural quality of products and fried products are usually stored and consumed, these additives can probably help in improving the texture of stored products. Further studies in this area would help in confirming this.

The objective of the study was to formulate low‐fat gravy mixes for curries using oilseeds, which are known to function as natural emulsifiers, namely cashew nuts, and sesame, watermelon and poppy seeds. The functionality of oilseeds was determined in terms of water‐ and fat‐absorption capacities and emulsifying properties. These oilseeds were used as oil replacements in the preparation of vegetable‐ or legume‐based curries. Traditional oil‐based samples served as a control for comparison of quality. The prepared curries were analysed for fat content and sensory attributes. A part of the gravy mix was also frozen and used after 30 days for the preparation of legume‐based curry. Results revealed that the fat content of oilseeds ranged from 48 to 53%; protein content, 17–29%; emulsification capacity, 58–62%; and emulsion stability, 200–233%. Formulated gravy mixes resulted in 70–80% lesser oil in curries in comparison with the control. The sensory attributes of low‐fat vegetable curry were similar to those of the control; however, low‐fat legume‐based preparations were found to have significantly lower sensory quality. In curries made out of frozen curry mixes, the sensory attributes of cashew nut‐based curry were similar to those of the control. It can be concluded that natural emulsifiers or oilseeds can be used as oil replacements in the preparation of low‐fat gravy mix for Indian curries.

Ragi was incorporated at different levels (5, 15 and 25%) to a deep fat fried snack item namely “chakli” to study its effect on fat absorption, sensory and storage parameters. Three sets of products were prepared incorporating untreated, dry heat treated and gelatinized ragi flour. The control products were without ragi flour. Results indicated that the fat absorbed by the control was 19%. Ragi flour incorporation (5%) increased fat content to 24% but on further increase of ragi flour (15 and 25%), it decreased to 19.7 and 18%, respectively. Incorporation of untreated and dry heat treated ragi flour resulted in a slight decline in the sensory ratings of products. The effects were more adverse with higher level of incorporation. On incorporation of gelatinized ragi flour (5%), significantly higher ratings were obtained for texture, flavor and overall quality of products in comparison with the control. The free fatty acid content of products was very low on 0 day and increased during 4 weeks of storage. It can be concluded from the results that incorporation of higher amounts of ragi resulted in lower fat uptake but compromised the sensory quality of the product. However, incorporation at the 5% level had the opposite effect. Gelatinization as a pretreatment was found to improve the quality of the product.