Impact of water chestnut addition on development and characterization of supplemented date bar.
Abstract
Water chestnut (Trapa natans L.) is one of Pakistan's most overlooked fruits; despite its high nutritional value, it fails to capture the attention of food processors in Pakistan due to its seasonal availability. Many types of products can be made because of its starchy taste, firm and crispy texture. In the present study, three treatments (T0, T1 and T2) of date bar of approximately 36 ± 2 g weight with high nutritional value were prepared on the basis of water chestnut supplementation. For this purpose, water chestnut powder and date paste were used in different proportion. These bars were analyzed for physico-chemical, microbial and sensory analysis characteristics. The proximate analysis of date bars supplemented with water chestnut indicated that the moisture, crude protein, fat, fiber, ash and NFE contents for treatments ranges from 5.45-7.27%, 4.02-5.25%, 1.77-2.81%, 1.48-2.97%, 1.28-1.93% and 82.69-83.09%, respectively. The microbial analysis of fruit bars showed that mean values of TPC changed gradually from 1.64 to 2.31 log10 CFU / g during 90 days of storage. The mean values for sensory assessment indicated that T1 was preferred over the other treatments in terms of overall acceptability, color, taste, flavor, and texture. The bars received a favorable sensory score and remained stable over a 90-day storage period. Additionally, the study discovered that water chestnut powder can be used to boost the nutritional value and health benefits of date fruit bars.