Effectiveness of Pitaya Pulp Incorporated to Wheat Flour in Bread Making

Abstract

 Abstract

There has a trend towards the consumption of functional foods beneficial for human health.  Bread is one of the most important staple foods in the world.  Pitaya pulp is a rich source of nutrition like carbohydrate, pectin, crude fibre, vitamin and minerals. It also contains a great amount of phytochemical constituents like phenolics, flavonoids. It would be of functional benefit if wheat flour could be substituted by pitaya pulp to utilize anthocyanin pigment in adherent as natural valuable colorant in bread-making. We have attempted in the application of composite flour through the incorporation of pitaya pulp into wheat flour to improve nutritional quality of bread. In this study, pitaya pulp was utilized to substitute refined wheat flour in bread-making doughs at 3.5%, 5.0%, 6.5%, 8.0%, 9.5% substitution levels. Various variables of texture firmness (g), specific loaf volume (cm³/g), water activity (a_w), rancidity (meq O₂/kg fat), total phenolic (mg GAE/ 100g), total flavonoid (mg GE/ 100g) and sensory characteristics of bread were carefully observed. The substituted bread-making with 8.0% pitaya pulp had the improved firmness, rich in total phenolics and flavonoids but low in rancidity. During 7 days of storage in OPP/LLDPE pouch at ambient temperature, the physico-chemical, microbial and sensory characteristics of bread still satisfied to acceptable level.

Keywords: Bread, Pitaya, Firmness, Specific loaf volume, Water activity, Phenolic, Flavonoid, Rancidity.