Candy with Banana, Ginger and Skim Milk Powder as a source of Phenolics and Antioxidants -

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Candy with Banana, Ginger and Skim Milk Powder as a source of Phenolics and Antioxidants

In this study, an attempt has been made to develop functional candy from various combinations of banana, ginger, skim milk powder, and honey at 2-10% and evaluated its sensory, nutraceutical, functional properties and microbial stability for 60 days. Among various combinations of banana and ginger pulp, candy prepared from 96:6 w/w (banana: ginger) ratio was found better than other combinations in respect to organoleptic and nutritional quality. Ginger and skim milk powder addition increased the contents of protein (4.54%), ash (2.82%), phenolic (8.59 mgGAE/g), flavonoid (2.43 mQ/g), and antioxidant activity (36.15% DPPH activity) of functional candy. Microbial studies of functional candy revealed that it could be stored up to 60 days without microbial contamination and acceptable by the consumer. The cost of functional candy was Rs.1.53 per candy, which was less than market candy. This study showed that candy manufactured from banana, ginger, skim milk powder, and honey was nutritionally and economical improved with acceptable sensory properties. Developed functional candy increases the market’s revenue and enables confectionary market to develop a new candy type.

 

Materials and Methods

Fully matured banana (Musa acuminata Colla) cultivar Cavendish G9, fresh ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), skim milk powder (Farmer fresh), honey (Dabar), butter (Amul), and salt (Tata) were procured from the local market. Most of the chemicals and additives used in this research were of analytical grade.

Extraction of Pulp

After sorting out damaged and bruised gingers, it was washed thoroughly with running tap water to remove soil and foreign materials. After washing and peeling, cut into 0.5-1.0 cm cubes using knife and passed through the mixer until obtaining a homogeneous ginger pulp (GP). Selected fully ripened banana fruits were peeled, cut into pieces, and passed through the home-scale pulping machine to obtain banana pulp.

Preparation and Standardization of Candy

The formula used to prepare control candy was as follows: 100g banana pulp, 55 ml honey, 20 g butter, 0.5g salt and 3g pectin. Six combinations were prepared for development of functional candy (FC) with replacement of banana pulp(BP) by ginger pulp (GP) at different levels was 100:0 (control); 98:2; 96:4; 94:6;92:8 and 90:10 w/w. Skim milk powder (150g) added to combinations of banana and ginger pulp to increase the protein content and reduce ginger’s spicy flavor. The amount of other ingredients such as honey, butter, salt and pectin content were same as in control candy.

To prepare functional candy, the blended banana and ginger pulp were cooked till its contents became 1/2 of their original volume. Then skim milk powder was dissolved in a small quantity of water and mixed with the above mixture and again heated till TSS of content reached 70–750 Brix. Then other ingredients such as honey, butter fat, and salt were added as per the treatment, and the mixture was heated until the TSS content reached 80-820 Brix. Just before the finish point, potassium sorbate @ 200 ppm was added, which acts as a preservative for candy. The heated mass was spread into a stainless steel plate that was already smeared with fat. The thick paste was rolled into round shape, dusting with coconut powder and left for 5 to 6 hours for cooling and setting. Prepared functional candy (FC) and control candy (CC) were packed in metallic-coated polythene wrappers for further analysis.

Optimization of Functional Candy (FC) by Sensory Evaluation

The optimization of the level of banana pulp, ginger pulp, skim milk powder, and other ingredients for the preparation of functional candy was based on sensory analysis on a 9 point hedonic scale. The mean score of 12 semi-trained judges for each quality parameter viz., aroma, flavor, color and appearance, texture, and overall acceptability was recorded.

Proximate Analysis of GP, CC and FC

Moisture, protein, and ash content in fruit candy were analyzed by the method given in AOAC18.

The energetic  Physicochemical Characteristics of GP, CC and FC

Total Sugar Total sugar contents were determined by according to the standard methods as described in AOAC. Water activity (Aw) was analyzed using a water activity analyzer. Total soluble solid, pH and titratable acidity of candy were determined according to the standard method. A hand refractometer was used to determination of TSS at 25°C. Titratable acidity determined by titration against 0.1N NaOH using few drops of phenolphthalein indicator, and a Cyber scan 510 pH meter was used for the determination of pH. Consumer acceptability is significantly influenced by color and texture of candy. Color Flex EZ, Hunter Lab was used for determining the color values in terms of L* (0 = black; 100 = white), a* (negative = green; positive = red), and b* (negative = blue; positive = yellow). The hardness of the candy was measured using a texture analyzer in a compression mode with a cylindrical aluminum probe with flat ends.

Nutraceutical Characteristics of GP, CC and FC Total Phenolic Content (TPC)

TPC and TFC in the test sample extracts were determined by spectrophotometrically according to the Folin–Ciocalteu and quercetin standard method respectively. The results obtained were expressed as mg GAE/g for TPC and (QE)/g for TFC.

DPPH radical scavenging activity was measured. All the samples were subjected to microbiological analysis for total plate count, yeast and mold count (YMC) and coliform count. Total plate count was estimated using plate count agar, whereas yeasts and molds were estimated using the potato dextrose agar. Coliforms count was determined using violet red bile agar after incubation at 37 °C for 48 hrs.

Result

Sensory Analysis of Functional Candy

The sensory score of the different attributes and overall acceptability of candy with different levels of ginger pulp. The sensory scores for flavor, taste, texture, color and appearance decreased with increasing ginger pulp concentration from 0-10% because ginger pulp gives candy to very spicy and bitter taste, darker color, more viscous and sharper spicy aroma. Skim milk powder reduces the dark, pungent and bitter taste of ginger pulp in candy and makes balances the taste, aroma and color between banana and ginger. However, at 8% and 10% levels, the candy showed a significant unacceptable change from control candy in all sensory attributes. In the case of all attributes, ginger pulp-6% scored very near to control samples. Hence, supplementation of ginger pulp at a 6% level was found to be acceptable in candy without causing any adverse effect on the sensory attributes and considered as optimized functional candy.

Proximate Analysis of Control and Functional Candy

The moisture content of CC and FC ranged between 10.92 and 11.06 per cent, respectively. The moisture content is partially affected by fiber content in a sample. However, in this study, there was no significant difference between the moisture content of control candy and functional candy. Ginger and banana pulp has a protein content of 1.82% and 1.87%, respectively. Functional candy has higher protein content (4.54%) when compared to control candy (2.33%) which may be explained by the fact that skim milk powder was added during the formulation of the functional candy, which has 6 good protein contents as well as has a positive impact on color, flavor, texture and shelf stability.

Physico-Chemical Analysis of Control and Immunity Boost Candy

Water activity (aw) plays an important role in growth of microorganism and cause spoilage in food. Water activity should be below 0.6 to avoid the surface mold growth that usually spoils confectionery products. The presence of skim milk powder in FC reduced the water activities (0.54) in FC in comparison to control candy (0.62). Proteins, carbohydrates and salts play a significant role in lowering water activities by binding water in the food system.

TSS content of control candy and functional candy was 82.5 and 84.10 Brix. The TSS of FC was more than CC because of ginger pulp and skim milk powder. The pH of the control candy was 6.94 and 6.78 after the addition of ginger pulp and skim milk powder in functional candy. pH value decreased due to the addition of ginger paste. Titrable acidity also denotes acidic taste of candy which is important parameter for consumer acceptability. The titrable acidity of control and functional candy was 0.25 and 0.26 %, respectively. The acidity of candy increased with ginger paste, but honey and skim milk powder counteract ginger acidity. These work shows that TA is in acceptable range and it is possible to mixing of different fruit pulp which would finally lead to obtaining functional candy that is attractive to the consumer.

Plant-based food products are rich sources of polyphenols and flavonoid having antioxidant and nutraceutical properties. Unprocessed food products have generally higher phytochemical than the processed product. The same trend was observed in the present investigation, also as evident from a decline in the control candy. Total Phenolic content in ginger pulp was 12.27 mg GAE/g which reduced 30% in optimized candy (8.59mgGAE/g). But it was significantly higher than control candy (3.97mgGAE/g). TFC of GP and FC against quercetin was found to be 3.88 and 2.43 mQ/g of dry weight, respectively, which was significantly higher than control candy (1.76mQ/g of dry weight).

In this study, we applied DPPH assay to determine antioxidant activity, which was widely applied for many foods and food products such as apple, banana, strawberry, extra virgin olive oil, pomace olive oil, soybean oil, and palm oil. Antioxidant activity in terms of DPPH for GP, CC, and FC was found to be 77.5%, 25.05%, and 36.15 %, respectively. When the result of CC and FC were compared with each other, significantly higher DPPH values of FC were obtained because of the presence of phyto constituents in the ginger pulp.

Effect of Storage on Microbial Growth

TPC, coliform, yeast, and mold count is the simplest test for the safety of food from a microbiological stand point. TPC and coliform unit increased gradually during storage. The result shows that FC has a lesser total plate and coliform count than the control candy because of the presence of ginger pulp in FC, whereas yeast and mold count was nil for both.

Cost Estimation of Optimized Candy

The cost of optimized candy that formulated in the laboratory was Rs.1.53/ candy that lowers than market candy. So the use of 9 ginger pulp, skim milk powder, and honey to prepare optimized candy was found to be economical and healthy than marketed candy. These costs did not include transport, rent, local taxes, sale commission, etc.

Conclusion

This study has shown that the utilization of banana, ginger and skim milk powder in preparation of candy to improve the nutritional and functional properties of candy. Sensory evaluation showed that better quality candy with banana and ginger pulp could be prepared using 94:6 percent pulp, 150 g skim milk powder, 20 g butter, 55 ml honey, 3 g pectin and 0.5 g common salt per 100 g pulp. The addition of ginger pulp and skim milk powder improved mineral content, proteins, dietary fibers, mainly antioxidants, phenolics contents of the formulated fruit candy. The cost of production of functional candy was Rs.1.405/candy which lowers than market candy. Candy could be stored in good condition beyond 60 days at ambient temperature. This type of functional candy increases the market’s revenue with ayurvedic goodness, boosts immunity, and is advantageous to people of all ages. Further research is needed for the shelf stability of banana ginger fruit candy and the best packaging material that may contribute to its stability.

Reference:

Neha, Y., Aparna, K., Chauhan, A.K. and Tarun, V., 2021. Development of functional candy with banana, ginger and skim milk powder as a source of phenolics and antioxidants. Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science, pp.855-865.