Modification of Irind Mine Pumice Surface

In the last decade, a continuous increasing research activity is focused on the surface modification of natural porous materials for the efficient removal of oil contaminants from water. A continuous in-situ oil/water separation technique for oil spill cleanup had been designed using surface modified Irind mine pumice as a sorbent. Irind mine pumice is an aluminosilicate rock, with well-developed porosity, mechanical strength, high buoyancy, chemically inert and eco-friendly, therefore it must exhibit certain water-and oil absorption capacities. The modified pumice absorbs a broad variety of oils and organic solvents with high oil absorption capacity and negligible water take-up at both static and dynamic conditions. Irind mine pumice have been used with grain sizes ranging from 2.5 ... 5.0 mm. Oligomethylhydride siloxane is used as a modifier.

Quasi Emulsion Solvent Diffusion Modification of Underutilized Chenopodium album Starch and its Characterization

The present study was designed to investigate the changes occur on Chenopodium album starch (CAS) after modification through quasi emulsion solvent diffusion (QESD) method. Modification of starch was carried out by HCl (0.1, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1M) followed by precipitation. The QESD modification significantly reduced the amylose content, water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, solubility as well as swelling power of treated starch. Gelatinization behaviour of modified starch showed an increase in pasting temperature. The SEM images showed the formation of regular and spherical shaped larger starch particles. There was an improvement in crystallinity from 20.01 to 29.86% after modification as shown in X-ray analysis. Overall, it indicates that QESD treatment results into formation of spherical crystalline agglomerates.

Determination of the Functional Properties of Varieties of New Rice for Africa (NERICA) relevant to its Processing

Flour from rice can be applicable into several types of food, or be used directly as a food substitute, and this can have an impact on the final quality of the product. This aimed to determine the functional properties of some selected NERICA varieties, namely, FARO 44, FARO 52, FARO 57, FARO 60 and FARO 61. Results obtained showed that the functional properties, such as the water absorption capacity (WAC), swelling power, water solubility index (WSI), bulk density, oil absorption capacity (OAC), and the foaming capacity, ranged from 251.74 to 298.51 (%); 7.42 to 8.41 (g/g); 10.01 to 12.27 (%); 0.92 to 1.00 (%); 0.45 to 1.36 (%); and 7.29 to 11.76 (%) respectively. All recorded samples were significantly difference (p < 0.05). FARO 61 recorded highest point of 298.51 (%), and 1.36 (%), in WAC and OAC respectively. While FARO 57 recorded the highest swelling power of 8.41 (g/g). These determined results of the functional properties of NERICA flour samples, will be useful in determining their suitability in food and other relevant industries because the flour samples showed high quality range of functional properties that makes them favourable for such activities.

ANALYSIS OF DUPLEX CARTONS QUALITY AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET

350-gram duplex cartons is a popular packaging material used by entrepreneurs because it is affordable, recyclable, and harmless to humans. The two main manufacturers that provide these packaged products are found in the market. In order to assist the government in providing quality assurance for consumers, the packaging materials are physically tested in accordance with SNI 10123: 2008. The quality testings include the grammature of cardboard, thickness, brightness, water absorption, oil absorption, pulling power of paper/cardboard, water content, paperboard folds, and mass density of paper/cardboard, by means of tests that have been provided by the National Standar Nasional. Indonesia (SNI). The results showed that one of the manufacturers did not meet the requirements for the brightness, while the other manufacturer did not meet the standards for the water absorption.Keywords—Resistance, Paper, Mattpaper

Kinetics of Moisture Loss and Oil Absorption of Pork Rinds during Deep-Fat, Microwave-Assisted and Vacuum Frying

The fat content of fried pork rinds is high, and alternative frying helps reduce the oil content and maintain their texture and taste. Different frying methods such as microwave-assisted, traditional deep frying and vacuum frying on the breaking force, color, microstructure, water loss and oil absorption attributes of fried pork rinds were evaluated in this study. The fat content of microwave-assisted and vacuum-fried pork rinds was lower (24.2 g/100 g dry weight basis (db) and 17.1 g/100 g db, respectively) than that (35.6 g/100 g db) of traditional deep-fat frying. Non-uniform, holy and irregular surface microstructures were obtained by vacuum frying due to rapid mass transfer at low pressure. The first-order kinetic models of water loss and oil absorption of traditional and microwave-assisted frying of pork rinds were established. Microwave frying caused a faster moisture loss rate, shorter frying time and lower pork rind oil content, makes it an attractive substitute for traditional deep-fat frying.

Utilization of shallot bio-waste (Allium cepa L. var. aggregatum) fractions for the production of functional cookies

Shallot harvesting and processing produce various waste streams, and the current study aims to investigate the effects of shallot bio-waste powder (SWP) substitution on different flour properties. Increased SWP to 50% substitution of stalk and petiole showed a rise in swelling capacity (43.33%) and water absorption (342.22%), and oil absorption (320.73%), respectively. Foaming capacity improved from 48.00% in control to 60.26% in 30% flower substitution and further decreases to 51.28% at 50%. Pasting properties reduced at higher SWP substitution and the highest drop in peak viscosity was observed at Stalk-50 (457.33 cP). Subsequently, developed functional cookies showed enhanced fiber, ash, total phenol, and total flavonoids with 3, 2, 7, and 5 fold, respectively. Cookies developed with higher substitution were of darker color and higher hardness and fracturability. Sensory evaluation with fuzzy analysis revealed better acceptance for stalk and petiole (10%) and peel (5%) of final cookies with elevated nutritional value.

Effect of Pretreatment and Drying Methods on the Quality of Anchote (Coccinia abyssinica (Lam.)) Flour

Reduction of postharvest losses through improved technique is studied in this work. Pretreatment and drying, in particular, are important methods for using various tuber-based food items to produce intermediate products that increase economic benefit and availability with a longer shelf life in the production and consumption communities. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of pretreatment and drying methods on the proximate composition and physical and functional properties of flour developed from anchote. The treated anchote flour was prepared using hot distilled water for blanching and potassium metabisulphite solution and drying methods (sun, solar, and oven). The obtained data were statistically analyzed using SAS software at P < 0.05 . Accordingly, the untreated and sun-dried anchote had greater moisture content (10.34%) than the chemically treated and oven-dried anchote (8.71%). The samples treated with potassium metabisulphite and the solar-drying methods have higher protein content (4.02%) than the blanched and sun-dried samples (3.14%). Samples treated with blanching and solar drying have lower ash content (3.96%) than samples treated with potassium metabisulphite and dried (4.89%). The highest fiber content was recorded for samples treated with blanching and oven-drying methods, with a rating of 4.71%. Sun-dried samples had an increased fat content (1.14%) compared to blanch with all drying methods (0.72%). The untreated and sun-dried flour had lower carbohydrate content (80.95%) than blanched and oven-dried (83.03%). The potassium-metabisulphite-treated and oven-dried samples rated 2.66% with the highest water absorption value. The blanched and oven-dried samples had the lowest oil absorption capacity of 1.71%, a significantly different value from the highest value of 1.98% for the potassium-metabisulphite-treated and solar-dried samples. Oven-dried samples had higher swelling power than solar- and sun-drying methods. The anchote samples treated by blanching methods and dried in the oven had the highest solubility rating of 43.84% and the lowest value of 38.8% for control and sun-dried samples. The sun-dried anchote flour had the highest dispersibility value, which is significantly different from both the oven-dried and solar-dried versions. Along with that, the untreated samples had significantly lower dispersibility values than the potassium-metabisulphite-treated and blanched flour samples. The proximate values of anchote flour were significantly affected by pretreatment and drying methods. Additionally, the main and interactive effect of pretreatment and drying methods influenced the water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, swelling power, solubility, and dispersibility significantly. Further research is required to improve flour properties and characterize pasting properties to assess the suitability of the starch for different industrial inputs.