Sustainable functional foods derived from indigenous resources: the utilization of tamarind seed, bael, and bamboo shoot powders as nutritional enhancers

Abstract

Value-added products such as pasta and cookies were prepared from composite flours with 20% incorporation of three Minor Forest Products (MFPs), namely bael, bamboo shoot, and tamarind seed, separately, in refined wheat flour. Cookies were made using the basic creamery method, where 250 g of icing sugar and 250 g of fat were mixed initially to obtain a creamery texture. Following this, 500 g of composite flour was added and mixed. Next, 5 g of baking powder and 75 mL of water were added, and the dough was kneaded, sheeted, and cut. Finally, it was baked at 120 °C for 20 minutes and cooled. Pasta was prepared by the addition of 350 mL of water to the composite flours, followed by kneading and extrusion. The extruded pasta was then steamed for 20 minutes by the double-boiling method and then dried for 16 hours at 55 °C in a hot air dryer. Cookies and pasta made from 100% maida flour were taken as the control. Tamarind seed pasta and cookies had a higher protein value of 12.61 ± 0.02% and 12.62 ± 0.22%, respectively. Bamboo shoot pasta and cookies had high fibre content with values of 7.99 ± 0.55% and 7.69 ± 0.75%, respectively. Dietary fibre analysis revealed that bamboo shoot pasta, and cookies had the highest insoluble fibre (16.67 mg/100 g and 19.05 mg/100 g, respectively) and soluble fibre content (5.50 mg/100 g and 6.42 mg/100 g, respectively). Bael pasta and cookies were observed to have a high potassium content. A high amount of vitamin C was also observed in bael pasta (132.8 mg/100 g) and cookies (152.99 mg/100 g) compared to the control. Moreover, bael also seems to show very good antioxidant activity with 46.7 ± 0.45 μg mL⁻¹ for pasta and 19.39 ± 0.99 μg mL⁻¹ for cookies. The Total Phenolic Content (TPC) analysis revealed that the pasta and cookie samples had higher TPC than the control, with bael having the highest value in both pasta (2981.75 ± 171.7 mg GAE/100 g) and cookies (2027.58 ± 80.66 mg GAE/100 g). Amylose content was found to be higher for all the products than their control, which aids in improving their textural properties. The sensorial properties and textural properties of bamboo shoot pasta (overall acceptability 7.2) and cookies (overall acceptability 7.3), and tamarind seed pasta (overall acceptability 6.9) and cookies (overall acceptability 8.0) are up to the level of consumer acceptability, while bael pasta (overall acceptability 6.0) and cookies (overall acceptability 6.7) require further improvement. All the products developed have the potential to become functional foods with further incorporation and optimization.