What effect does substituting okra gum and bean paste for a traditional fat have on sensory evaluations

of food items? Stephanie Copeland February 24, 2013

INTRODUCTION

In America, people that are overweight or obese are a large portion of the population and that population seems to be growing steadily. The prevalence of obesity has doubled between the 1970s and 2008, and even in some cases, such as in adolescents, tripled1! This is such a large concern because being overweight causes an increased risk for other health problems such as, Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease and even certain types of cancer and premature death not only in adults, but also in children as young as 2 to 5 years of age if nothing is done to control the excessive intake of calories1. A great way to avoid the extra calories being consumed is by substituting the traditional fat ingredients with less calorie dense options such as okra gum and bean pastes. Okra, also called Abelmoschus or Hibiscus esculentus according to the USDA plant profile website2, is used in Africa and is planted in many other areas of the world. Okra gums are often used as thickeners and flavoring for different foods like soups3. Okra is also a plant that has been used to manage diabetes4. According to an article by Tavakoli5, extraction of okra gums from the fruit require cleaning, slicing, and crushing, then soaking in distilled water for ten hours while stirring occasionally. The mucilage is then filtered through a muslin cloth and acetone is then added to precipitate the extracted gum, then the gum is filtered under a vacuum to remove the acetone and finally dried. Bean paste is made of beans that are mashed; the beans could be any variety of white beans like cannellini, or Great Northern beans or others like mungbeans or even black beans, which are normally substituted for a fat in brownies because of the dark color. If making a bean puree from dried beans, soak the beans in water, then boil them for one to one and a half hours,

then put the beans into a blender (if using one) with some of the liquid the beans were cooked in and blend until smooth. If not using a blender mash the beans with a fork6. Legumes are good substitutes because of their protein content, B vitamins, minerals, low fat content, as well as the fiber that they provide7. When gums and legumes replace fats, they act as thickeners, stabilizers, and gelling agents8. They also help the product to retain moisture and stay fresh for longer8. Fat is important in foods because it is what gives the item a pleasant taste and flavor, as well as a pleasant mouth-feel9. Therefore, replacing a traditional fat with a non-fatty substitute, which has fewer calories may make the product less acceptable to the consumer9. People in America are becoming more health conscious and making it a point to control their weight through eating better in order to reduce their risk for disease. However, at the same time they do not want to give up what they are eating because it is what they are used to and it tastes good9. Therefore, there needs to be a way that these health-conscious consumers can be happy while consuming healthier foods. As mentioned previously, in order to be successful in this, the healthier foods need to be acceptable to the consumer as well as beneficial to their diet. One way this can be done is by using substitutions for certain calorie dense items, such as fats.

Okra Gum Substitutions

Chocolate Bar Cookies with Okra Gum

One study10 substituted okra gum for margarine and egg in chocolate bar cookies. In order to achieve appropriate water content in the okra gum chocolate bar cookies, other ingredients were altered, such as flour, and salt. The amount of flour used was increased from

two-thirds of a cup in the original recipe to one and one-eighth of a cup in the okra gum cookies; the salt also increased and changed from and changed from one-third of a teaspoon to half of a teaspoon, while the egg yolk decreased from six all the way down to a half of an egg yolk. The amount of okra gum used in substitution was one cup. In this study10, there were sixty-two untrained consumers who volunteered to evaluate the cookies during three different testing sessions. However, only fifty-two of the volunteers cooperated. Panelists evaluated duplicate samples of the cookies, and afterwards cleansed their palates with distilled water before evaluating the next sample. The consumers used a nine-point hedonic scale, which ranged from nine, meaning like extremely to one, meaning dislike extremely, to evaluate the cookies twelve to eighteen hours after baking. According to the study10, the color and smell of the fat-free cookies did not differ much from the control cookies with the margarine and egg. In addition, the flavor and after taste ratings were higher than neither like nor dislike for the fat-free cookies, and after two days, the rating of moistness of the okra gum cookies were higher than that of the control cookies.

Chocolate Frozen Dairy Dessert and Okra Gum

A second study11 substituted okra gum in increments of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% in a chocolate frozen dairy dessert in exchange for traditional milk-fat ingredients. Fifty-six volunteers were selected among students, faculty, and staff at a University in the southeastern United States, and evaluated the desserts based on a similar nine-point hedonic scale as mentioned above. In the study11, after tasting each product the consumers cleansed their palates with distilled water before tasting the next. Since the study11 was testing the substitution in a

frozen dessert, the melting characteristics were also recorded. The melting point was recorded when the first drop of the sample passed through the screen and landed onto a balance. Each frozen dessert was tested and the masses of the samples were recorded at ten-minute intervals. All of the ratings were similar for the okra gum frozen dessert versus the control except for the after taste ratings, which were lower for the complete okra gum substitution using 100% okra gum. The color and smell of the okra gum desserts were not much different from the control. In addition, the melting points of the desserts showed that the melting rates of the dessert slowed as the okra gum percentage increased.

Bean Paste Substitutions

Pureed Cannellini Beans in Brownies

Bean pastes can also be acceptable substitutes in desserts as fat ingredients. An experiment12 tested the use of cannellini beans at intervals of 25%, 50%, and 75% as a replacement for shortening in brownies. In this experiment12, one hundred twenty untrained panelists who were students, faculty, and staff of a state university cooperated and the ratings were based off of a seven-point hedonic scale, which one, meant like extremely and seven meant dislike extremely12. Each tray of brownies were given a random three-digit number and placed in a refrigerator for cooling before they were sliced to serve. Water and unsalted crackers were available for participants to cleanse their palates in between samples. The participants were able to taste the brownies in any order they chose and were encouraged not to compare evaluations to another brownie sample.

According to the study12, the 50% bean paste brownies had 2.6 grams less fat and 21 fewer kcal per 1.4 ounce serving compared to the control brownie, which contained 152 kcal, 6.4 grams of total fat, 1.8 grams of saturated fat, and 36% of kcal from fat per 1.4 ounce of brownie. The appearance and color of the control did not vary much from the 75% bean paste brownie. For the tenderness and overall acceptability of the brownies, the control to the 50% was liked moderately and for the 75% was liked slightly. For texture and flavor, it ranged from like moderately for control, to liked slightly for the 50% brownies and the 75% brownies. The nutritional analysis of the brownies is also important.

Mungbean Paste in Peanut Butter Cookies

Mungbean is also called green gram and is a legume that is used often in Asian countries13. Mungbean paste was used in this experiment14 to determine if it would produce a cookie with similar taste and texture to a full-butter peanut butter cookie if used in place of butter in peanut butter cookies. Mungbean paste was substituted for 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the butter by weight in the experimental cookies. A series of different taste tests were done on these cookies. Nine semi-trained panelists who used a ten point hedonic scale to rate the cookies were one of the sensory panels who completed the taste testing. These panelists ranged from eighteen years of age to fifty-two years, and of these participants were four women and five men who were all usual consumers of peanut butter cookies. The training of these panelists included identification of the four basic tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, and sour, and they also took part in evaluating sample food products and

assigning numbers representing intensities to each of the products. In this study14, the panelists compared the other mungbean cookies to the control cookies for their scores. In addition, two other sensory panels were completed. The total of the people who cooperated in the last two panels were 181 untrained panelists; these panelists used a six point hedonic scale, which dislike extremely was assigned the number one, while like extremely was number six. In the first test 73 people cooperated and the full fat peanut butter cookie was compared to the 25% mungbean cookie, and in the second test, which had 108 participants, compared the full fat peanut butter cookie against the 50% mungbean paste cookie. The 75% and 100% mungbean paste peanut butter cookies were not rated because the 50% cookies were rated significantly different from the control cookies in test two. In consumer test one, the 25% mungbean paste cookies were not rated significantly different from the control cookie and in test two, consumer panelists liked the control cookie significantly better than the 50% mungbean paste cookie, however all cookies rated were between like and like very much.

Pureed White Beans in Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pureed Great Northern beans were used as a butter substitute in the preparation of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in increments of 25%, 50%, and 75%. Great Northern beans were used because of their light color; therefore it would not affect the color of the cookies. According to the article7, ninety-two untrained panelists who were at a state university in the Western United States used a nine-point hedonic scale, which ranged from one, like extremely to nine, dislike extremely. Each panelist evaluated all four cookies on three separate occasions

under white lights and the panelists were each given all four of the cookies simultaneously and they were able to eat the cookies in whichever order they wanted to. As the amount of pureed beans in the recipe increased, the acceptability decreased according to the Hedonic scale used. However, the lowest ratings used on the hedonic scale were liked slightly. There were no dislikes used in the ratings. For appearance and overall acceptability, the control and 25% cookies with the pureed Great Northern beans were liked very much, however the ratings went down to liked moderately at 50% and liked slightly at 75%. The color of the control and the 25% cookies were liked very much but for the 50% and 75%, they were liked moderately. For flavor, the ratings ranged from liked very much for the control to liked slightly for the 75% cookies.

CONCLUSION

It seems as though okra gum is a more acceptable ingredient to be substituted for traditional fat ingredients because the ratings did not differ much from the control product to the experimental products containing a complete fat ingredient substitution. The only ratings that were affected were the aftertaste, therefore, in other experiments stronger flavors of the dessert might help reduce the poor aftertaste or use another fat replacer in addition to the okra gum. More research needs to be completed to determine if okra gum is an acceptable fat substitution in other products such as cakes, muffins, and cookies. Okra gum is not available currently to consumers11, however clients can use bean pastes as substitutes for traditional fat ingredients for a low cost.

The bean pastes seem to be acceptable to consumers in smaller amounts than the okra gum substitution as shown in the above studies. When the bean pastes were substituted for the traditional fat ingredients, the acceptability decreased as the substitution increased. Also as stated for the okra gum substitution, more research needs to be done to determine if there are ways to make a bean paste substitution more acceptable to consumers. Bean pastes are available at a low cost and they are more nutritious than fats like butter or margarine.

Application to Dietetic Practice

Substituting non-fat items such as okra gum or bean pastes with traditional fats in cooking is important to the dietetics field because many children and adults eat more calories than necessary and are also not physically active, therefore none of these excess calories are being burned1. Fats are calorie dense and provide nine calories per grams. Types of fat include saturated, trans, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Most Americans consume too much saturated and trans fatty acids and not enough unsaturated fatty acids, which is a large concern due to the health risks that come with the overconsumption of these items1. Trans fat are found in stick margarine, some tub margarine, and in shortening14. Solid fats, such as butter, margarine and shortening are abundant in the diets of Americans and contribute significantly to excess calorie intake and contribute an average of 19 percent of the total calories in American diets with few essential nutrients and no dietary fiber1. However, if the fats are substituted, there will be fewer calories consumed as well as more nutrients and fiber, especially with bean paste substitutes. Bean paste are easy to prepare, are readily available, and are cheap; less than one

dollar for a 15 ounce can of beans or for a small bag or dry beans. However, okra gum is not available to consumers.

References 1. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. 7th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, December 2010. 2. PLANTS Profile. USDA Website. Available at: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ABES. Accessed February 5, 2013 3. Ndjouenkeu R, Akingbala JO, Oguntimein GB. Emulsifying Properties Of Three African Food Hydrocolloids: Okra (Hibiscus Esculentus), Dika Nut (Irvingia Gabonensis), And Khan (Belschmiedia Sp.) Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 1997;51:245-255 4. Amin IM. Nutritional Properties of Abelmoschus Esculentus as Remedy to Manage Diabetes Mellitus: A Literature Review. IPCBEE. 2011;11 5. Tavakoli N, Ghassemi Dehkordi N, Teimouri R, Hamishehkar H. Characterization And Evaluation Of Okra Gum As A Tablet Binder. Jundishapur Journal Of Natural Pharmaceutical Products. 2008;3(1):33-38 6. Roberts A MS CFCS. Cooking With Food Storage Ingredients: Dry Beans. Available at: http://extension.usu.edu/juab/files/uploads/FSNE/drybeans_plus.pdf. Accessed March 5, 2013 7. Rankin LL PhD RD FADA, Bingham M. Acceptability of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Prepared Using Pureed White Beans As A Fat Replacement. JADA. 2000;100(7):831-832 8. Akoh C.C PhD. Fat Replacers. Food Technology. 1998;52(3):48-51 9. Lim J, Inglett GE, Lee S. Response to Consumer Demand For Reduced Fat Foods; MultiFunctional Fat Replacers. Japan Journal of Food Engineering. 2010;11(4):163-168 10. Romanchik-Cerpovicz JE PhD RD, Tilmon RW, Baldee KA. Moisture Retention and Consumer Acceptability of Chocolate Bar Cookies Prepared With Okra Gum As A Fat Ingredient Substitute. JADA. 2002;102(9): 1301-1302 11. Romanchik-Cerpovicz JE PhD RD, Constantino AC, Gunn LH PhD. Sensory Evaluation Ratings and Melting Characteristics Show That Okra Gum is An Acceptable Milk-Fat Ingredient Substitute in Chocolate Frozen Dairy Dessert. JADA. 2006;106(4):594-596 12. Szafranski M MS RD, Whittington JA MS RD, Bessinger C PhD RD. Pureed Cannellini Beans Can Be Substituted For Shortening in Brownies. JADA. 2005;105(8):1295-1297 13. Veena R, Bhattacharya S. Rheological Characterization of Raw and Roasted Green Gram Pastes. Food Science and Technology. 2012;46:260-266 14. Adair M MS RD, Knight S PhD RD, Gates G PhD RD. Acceptability of Peanut Butter Cookies Prepared Using Mungbean Paste As A Fat Ingredient Substitute. JADA. 2001;101(4): 467-469 15. Ward EM MS RD, Chang L MD. Cholesterol and Triglycerides Health Center. WebMD Website. Available at: http://www.webmd.com/cholesterolmanagement/features/cholesterol-and-cooking-fats-and-oils. Accessed February 3, 2013.