ISSN: 2155-9600
Research Article - (2021)Volume 11, Issue 2
Amaranth grains were used in the present investigation. Amaranth grains were washed grains were spread over filter paper sheet and dried completely. After drying, the grains were ground in an electric grinder to fine powder and supplemented at 20, 40, percent and 60 per cent level in the preparation of chapatti. The chapatti prepared by using wheat flour served as control. The organoleptic evaluations showed that all chapatti prepared incorporating amaranth flour were acceptable. The nutritional analysis revealed that the protein content of control chapatti was 12.42 per cent which increased significantly up to 18.23 per cent with incorporation of amaranth grain flour. The crude fibre and ash content in chapatti incorporated with amaranth flour had increased significantly as compared to control chapatti. Total dietary fibre content ranged from 11.13 to 22.06 per cent in supplemented chapatti whereas control chapatti contained 4.80 per cent total dietary fibre. The results of the study indicated that calcium content ranged from 112.44 to 222.70 mg/100 g in supplemented chapatti, whereas control chapatti had 55.59 mg/100 g calcium. The addition of the amaranth flour to chapatti improved iron, zinc and potassium content significantly.
Amaranth grains; Organoleptic; Chapatti; Protein; Dietary fibre; Mineral content
As previous studies have indicated, under-nutrition in India is not entirely due to an absolute lack of food but implicates a limited diversity in the household diet. Consequently, availability of diverse and more nutrient-rich food crops in the country, education and support in product formulation and recipe development offer viable opportunities for communities to improve their nutrition through dietary diversification and modification. The recent introduction of Grain Amaranth among resource-poor and marginalized communities in some parts of the country is an anticipated opportunity. Grain amaranth is a relatively new plant source of food in Uganda; both the leaves and grains can be consumed. The plant possesses unique nutritional and agronomic attributes, making it a valuable food crop especially among resource-poor and marginalized communities; with potential to contribute to improve nutrition and food security possibly also the alleviation of under-nutrition.
Amaranth grain has high levels of quality protein, whose amino acid composition compares favorably with the protein standard for good health and better than most of the grains and root crops commonly consumed in the country. Grain amaranth is particularly rich in lysine, the most critical essential amino acids that must be present in the diet for good health. It is also rich in fiber and other valuable nutrients including calcium with, twice the amount available in milk. Others include iron that is five times the level available in wheat and higher amounts of potassium, phosphorous, vitamins, A, E and folic acid than available in most cereal grains [1]. The grain is known to contain 6-10% oil, consisting predominantly of unsaturated fatty acids, especially the essential linoleic acid. In addition to the nutritional quality, the crop has a host of beneficial agronomic features including shorter maturity periods, high yields in marginal soils, resistance to stresses such as low moisture and soil fertility.
Grain amaranth production has been promoted in different parts of India before however, the actual contribution of the crop to food and nutrition security state of the communities among which it has been promoted is yet to be determined. Thus, this study sought to assess the potential of grain amaranth to enhance food and nutrition security through addition of amaranth grain for development of value added chapatti.
Procurement and processing of raw material
Amaranth grains were procured in a single lot from the Medicinal Aromatic and Underutilized Plants Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. Amaranth grains were cleaned and washed under tap water to remove dirt, dust and foreign materials. The washed grains were spread over filter paper sheet and dried completely. For the preparation of chapatti Amaranth grains were cleaned and ground in an electric grinder and flours thus obtained were sieved through a 60 mesh sieve and packed in airtight plastic containers and wheat flour were procured from local market for chapatti development.
Development and organoleptic characteristics of value added Chapatti
Three types of chapattis were prepared by using amaranth flour i.e. Type-I chapatti prepared by using 20% amaranth flour, Type- II by 40% amaranth flour and Type-III by using 60% amaranth flour. Wheat flour chapatti served as control. The preparation method of value added Chapatti is presented in Table 1. All chapatties were organoleptically evaluated by a panel of ten judges for sensory parameters like colour, appearance, flavour, texture, taste and overall acceptability using 9 point hedonic scale (1=dislike extremely, 5=neither like nor dislike, 9 to like extremely). Between tasting different samples, participants rinsed their mouth with warm water.
S. No. | Ingredients | Control | Type-I | Type-II | Type-III |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wheat flour (g) | 100 | 80 | 60 | 40 |
2 | Amaranth flour (g) | 0 | 20 | 40 | 60 |
3 | Water (ml) | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
4 | Salt (g) | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp | 1/2 tsp |
Table 1: Proportion of ingredients used for preparation of chapatti.
Method for preparation of chapatti:
• Wheat flour and amaranth flour were mixed together.
• Salt was added to mixture of flours. Soft dough was made by using water.
• Dough was divided into equal portions; small balls were made and rolled out with the help of rolling pin.
• Chapatis were roasted on a hot griddle from both the sides until brown shown in plate 1.
Plate 1. Chapatti.
Nutritional characteristics of value added Chapatti
All three types of chapatti along with control chapatti, were oven dried to a constant weight at 60°C, ground to a fine powder in an electrical grinder and analyzed for various nutrients. Proximate composition including moisture, protein, fat,, ash and crude fibre was determined by standard methods [2]. Total, soluble and insoluble dietary fibre constituents were determined by the enzymatic method given by Furda [3]. Total minerals were determined according to the method of Lindsey et al. [4].
Statistical analysis
The data were statistically analysed in complete randomized design for analysis of variance, mean, standards deviation and critical difference according to the standard method [5].
Sensory characteristics of Chapatti
Results presented in Figure 1 indicated that the mean scores of wheat flour (control) chapatti were rated as ‘liked very much’ for all the organoleptic characteristics. The mean scores of control chapatti were 8.10, 8.0, 7.70, 7.60 and 7.82 for colour, appearance, aroma, texture, taste, and overall acceptability, respectively, which fell in category of ‘liked very much’. The scores of appearance and texture were similar i.e. 7.2 in Type-I chapatti whereas the scores for colour, aroma, taste and overall acceptability were 7.30, 7.10 and 7.24, respectively. In Type-III chapatti mean scores for colour, appearance, aroma, texture, taste and overall acceptability were 7.10, 6.50, 6.60, 6.70, 6.40 and 6.58, respectively, and fell in the category of ‘liked moderately’. It was observed that all types of chapattis were acceptable in terms of all sensory characteristics and the scores fell in category of ‘liked moderately’.
Figure 1. Mean scores of sensory characteristics of chapatti.
Nutritional evaluation of developed chapatti
Proximate composition of chapatti: Result of proximate composition found that wheat flour chapatti (control) had 7.60% moisture, 12.42% crude protein, 3.05% fat, 1.93% crude fibre and 1.58% ash, whereas Type-I chapatti contained 7.93% moisture, 13.85% crude protein, 5.34% fat, 2.23% crude fibre, and 1.58% ash. Type II chapatti prepared by 40% amaranth flour had 8.20, 14.28, 7.30, 3.17 and 1.75 per cent moisture, crude protein, fat, crude fibre and ash, respectively, whereas Type III chapatti prepared with 60% amaranth flour had 8.36, 18.23, 9.42, 4.26 and 1.81% moisture, crude protein, fat, crude fiber and ash, respectively. It is evident from the Table 2 that incorporation of amaranth flour to the control chapatti increased the amount of crude protein, fat and crude fibre significantly in all types of chapatti. Further, it was observed that addition of 20% amaranth flour to wheat flour (Type I chapatti) did not bring any change in its ash content whereas addition of 40% (Type II) and 60% (Type III) amaranth flour significantly increased ash content from 1.58 (control chapatti) to 1.75 and 1.81%, respectively.
Types of chapatti | Moisture | Crude protein | Fat | Crude fibre | Ash |
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