| Abstrakt: |
Fruits and vegetables are the basic sources of nutritional food products, developed through incorporation of their flours, extracts, bioactives and functional ingredients in different concentrations, and with different combinations. Due to the valued nutritional and functional properties, aloe vera plant has special importance in food and pharma sectors. In the current study aloe vera gel, in the form of pulp was produced from aloe vera plants, and its gelatinous matrix was converted into powder, with the aim of utilization in food bar, with different combinations. Food bars have been catagorized as intermediate moisture food products with improved shelf life, stability and quality. Food bars with different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3%) of aloe vera gel powder (AVGP), were developed to study the textural, thermal and structural changes among different treatments. Food bars and its ingredients were analysed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scannig electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the chemical and physical interaction among these ingredients. Thermal stability of AVGP and food bars was calculated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). FTIR spectra showed the presence of pectins, phenols, mannose and uronic acid, as well as carbohydrates, monomers, and other functional groups. The DSC graph's peak indicated that the gelatinization reaction occurred at 77.57 °C. DSC results and SEM images showed that food bars having 2% AVGP had best smooth surface, which revealed that AVGP is thermally stable and showed maximum gelling power. As AVGP showed gelling and binding properties, along with thermal stability in fortified food bars, it can be used as functional ingredient in many other food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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