44F-8 |
Meat analogs from peanut and their use as meat substitutes in ethnic snacks |
C. L. RAY1, M. Ahmedna, and I. Goktepe. (1) Food Science & Nutrition, Dept. of Human Environment and Family Sciences, North Carolina A&T State University, 161 Carver Hall, Greensboro, NC 27411 The demand for ethnic foods is steadily increasing along with the demand for healthy snack foods. Among these, Latin foods continue to have a strong demand as the US Hispanic population grows to become the largest minority population in the country by 2010. The development of meatless alternatives to meat-based Latin snacks would meet the demand of vegetarians and other health conscious consumers. Defatted peanut flour is an underutilized by-product of the peanut industry that can be used to develop low-cost meat analogs for use as meat substitutes in ethnic snacks. The objectives of this study are to 1) modify defatted peanut flour (MDPF) by heat treatment and fermentation, 2) evaluate the functional properties of MDPF, and 3) develop meat analogs from MDPF to replace ground beef/pork in ethnic snacks such as tamales and taquitos. Defatted peanut was modified by heat treatment and fungal fermentation. Six types of peanut flours were evaluated for functional properties (foamability, emulsification, water/oil-binding capacities, and protein solubility) in quadruplicates. Meat analogs were developed from the MDPF and used as meat substitutes in tamales and taquitos. Peanut-based vegetarian snacks and controls were evaluated for color, flavor, texture and overall liking by a panel of Hispanic American consumers using a 9-point hedonic scale. Purchase intent was assessed using a binary (yes/no) scale. After fermentation and heat treatment, peanut lost its characteristic peanuty aroma and developed meat-like flavor and texture. All modified peanut flours exhibited better functional properties than the unmodified flours (p<0.05). Heat treated peanut yielded darker meat analogs, some of which had burnt off-flavor. Hedonic ratings of peanut-based snacks were comparable to those of meat-based snacks with mean ratings exceeding 6. Peanut-based meat analogs can successfully replace meat in ethnic snacks and provide consumers with cholesterol free vegetarian alternatives while adding value to the peanut industry.
Session 44F, Product Development
|