Indian water chestnut our- method optimization for preparation,

its physicochemical, morphological, pasting properties and its potential

in cookies preparation
Gagan Deep Singh
a,
*
, Charanjit Singh Riar
a
, Cozy Saini
a
, Amrinder S. Bawa
b
,
Dalbir Singh Sogi
c
, Dharmesh C. Saxena
a
a
Department of Food Engineering and Technology, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal-148 106, Punjab, India
b
Defence Food Research Laboratory, Siddhartha Nagar, Mysore, Karnataka, India
c
Department of Food Science and Technology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 22 April 2010
Received in revised form
14 September 2010
Accepted 14 September 2010
Keywords:
Water chestnut
Flour
RVA
Morphology
Cookies
a b s t r a c t
Various pre-treatments were given to water chestnut slices before drying in the process of optimizing
method for our preparation. Treatment of water chestnut slices with 0.1 g/100 g KMS (Potassium
metabisulphite) and 0.5 g/100 g citric acid for 30 min before drying exhibited best results in terms color
of the our. The calculated mean particle size of water chestnut our was 268.20 mm. The scanning
electron microscopy revealed that the granules present in water chestnut our were polyhedral, bearing
smooth surface having diameter in the range of 5e20 mm. The water chestnut our prepared by opti-
mized method exhibited higher peak viscosity (PV) at 2611 cP than the water chestnut our obtained
from market at 1912 cP. The breakdown was too higher at 898 cP for water chestnut our prepared by
optimized method against value of 625 cP for market water chestnut our. Cookies prepared from water
chestnut our exhibited good acceptance and excellent scope in future to be used as a specialized
product in Indian market.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Water chestnut (Trapa natans) belongs to the family Trapaceae,
one of the free-oating plants, grown in shallowwater elds, ponds
or swampy lands in tropical and sub-tropical countries (Takano &
Kadono, 2005). The interesting feature of water chestnut is the
color and shape of its outer cover in which the kernel is encased.
The water chestnut meat is covered with a thick jet-black outer
pericarp shaped like a horn protruding from the head of a buffalo.
The outer pericarp is hard, making it quite difcult to peel off to
obtain the internal white fruit (Tulyathan, Boondee, & Mahawanich,
2005). The fruit is used as a substitute for cereal in Indian
subcontinent during fasting days. The fruit is dried and the our
prepared from it is easily digestible with negligible fat content and
is helpful for dieting (Puste, 2004).
The majority of reported work has involved the physicochemical
properties of the native and modied starches rather than the our
itself, with some exceptions. There is a need to analyze the rheo-
logical and other physical properties of tropical tuber ours since
these are frequently incorporated in the preparation of a diverse
range of tropical foods (Alves et al., 2002). Water chestnut our
thus can be a good replacement for wheat our with respect the
Celiac disease caused by indigestion of gluten (wheat protein).
Demand for the water chestnut our rises during the Navratras and
other fasting and sacred days when consumption of wheat our is
avoided (Puste, 2004). In India, drying of whole water chestnut is
done following old traditional methods comprising sun drying of
whole water chestnuts followed by roasting in sand in large iron
pans which account for huge losses of time, product having low
yield and in addition produces product of low quality.
Cookies are widely accepted and consumed in developing
countries. Traditionally cookies are made from wheat our. Other
cereal ours or starches can be added to give special avors or
structural properties to the nal product. Cookies prepared from
water chestnut our can be presented as specialized product which
can be used during Navratras and other sacred or fasting days
observed frequently in India.
The present study comprises series of work i.e.(1) Optimization of
method for production of water chestnut our; (2) its physico-
chemical, morphological and pasting properties (3) preparation of
cookies fromwater chestnut our and their quality evaluation.
* Corresponding author. Fax: 91 1672 305857.
E-mail address: gagan_ur@yahoo.com (G.D. Singh).
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
LWT - Food Science and Technology
j ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ l wt
0023-6438/$ e see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2010.09.015
LWT - Food Science and Technology 44 (2011) 665e672
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Materials
Fresh water chestnuts (red variety), fully matured were
procured from local grower, any bruised or diseased fruits were
discarded. The corms were then washed under running potable
water to remove surface dirt, air dried and stored under refriger-
ated conditions at 4

C till use. Laboratory grade potassium meta-
bisulphite (KMS), citric acid and NaOH were purchased from M/s
Brightways Agencies, Chandigarh, India.
2.2. Methods
2.2.1. Optimization of method for our preparation
2.2.1.1. Peeling of whole water chestnut. The water chestnut kernel
is covered with a thick red-purple color outer pericarp which is
hard, making it quite difcult to peel off to obtain the internal white
fruit. Whole water chestnuts were submerged in hot boiling lye
solution containing 2.5 g/100 g NaOHfor 20 min in order to remove
the outer hull from the fruit. Intermittent stirring was done with
a glass rod for even reaction of lye solution with whole fruits.
2.2.1.2. Pre-treatment of kernels before drying. Fruits kernels were
cut into slices of 4 0.4 mmwidth. Thereafter, different treatments
as below were given to fruit slices before drying:
1) Blanching of fruit slices in hot water for 30 s.
2) Slices immersed in KMS and Citric acid solutions in the
following concentrations for 30 min:
Water chestnut kernel slices without any prior treatment before
drying were taken as control.
2.2.2. Flour processing
Water chestnuts were peeled manually and the kernels were cut
into slices of 4 0.4 mm. The slices were immediately immersed
into water containing 0.5 g/100 g KMS and 1.0 g/100 g citric acid for
30 min. Slices after pretreatment were dried on perforated trays in
a tray dryer (M/s. Balaji Enterprises, Saharanpur, India) at 70

C as
the same temperature have been earlier reported by us (Singh,
Sharma, Bawa, & Saxena, 2008) for drying water chestnut kernels
in terms of color of our obtained thereafter. The drying cabinet
was equipped with an electrical heater, a fan, and temperature
indicators. The relative humidity of the drying air was not regulated
and average humidity of air varied between 10 and 40% during
drying. The air velocity was kept constant at 1.5 m/s. The drying was
done in three batches containing ve trays each time and each tray
carrying 350 g of fresh slices. The dried slices, after cooling were
milled into our using the laboratory grinder (M/s. Sujata, New
Delhi, India) and passed through 177 mm sieve to obtain our of
uniform size, packed in an air tight container and then stored at
4

C till further use.
2.2.3. Physicochemical analysis of water chestnut our
The moisture, ash, lipid, protein, ash, total starch, reducing and
total sugar content of water chestnut our were determined
following methods described in AOAC, 2006.
2.2.3.1. Bulk density (loose and packed). For loose bulk density, an
empty and dried 50 ml measuring ask was taken and weighed.
Flour sample was allowed to fall freely into it up to the mark, with
a gentle tapping. The ask was weighed again along with the
sample. For packed bulk density the same sample was tapped
inside the measuring ask with the help of rubber pad and more
sample added up to the mark before weighing. The results were
reported as g/ml.
2.2.3.2. Color. A Hunter color measuring system(Hunter Color Diff.
Meter, Miniscan XE plus, Hunter Associates Laboratory Inc., USA)
was used to measure the color. The slices grounded in a laboratory
grinder and passed through an 177 mm sieve was placed in
a cylindrical plastic dish (58 mm in dia and 15 mm in depth) was
placed at the light port (50 mm in dia). The information given by L
*
,
a
*
, and b
*
was expressed as total color (DE), with L
*
representing the
brightness or dullness, a
*
for redness to greenness, and b
*
for yel-
lowness to blueness. The DE value was calculated as:
DE

DL
2
Da
2
Db
2
p
2.2.3.3. Water binding (WBC) and oil binding capacity (OBC). Water
binding capacity of the our sample was determined following
method of Young, Dennis, Paul, and Linda (1995). The same
procedure was followed for the determination of oil binding
capacity using fresh soybean oil.
2.2.3.4. Sieve analysis. Sieve analysis of whole water chestnut was
carried out by the method described by Wu, Horng, and Lu (1999)
in a Plan Sifter (Indosaw Industries Pvt. Ltd, Ambala, India) using
200 g sample.
2.2.4. Morphological properties
Scanning Electron Micrographs (SEMs) were taken by a Jeol JSM-
6100 Scanning Electron Microscope (Jeol Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). Flour
sample was suspended in ethanol to obtain a 1 g/100 g suspension.
One drop of the our-ethanol suspension was applied on an
aluminumstub using double-sided adhesive tape and the our was
coated with gold-palladium (60:40) dried partially under the lamp.
Finally the samples were dried under vacuum for 2 h and scanned
under SEM using magnications of 700 by standard procedure.
An acceleration potential of 20 kV was used during micrographic
analysis.
2.2.5. Pasting properties
The pasting properties of the our were evaluated with the
Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA-4, Newport Scientic, Warriewood,
Australia) and analyzed against water chestnut our obtained from
market. Viscosity proles of two our samples were recorded using
our suspensions (6 g/100 g; 28 g total weight). A programmed
heating and cooling cycle was used, where the samples were held
at 50

C for 1 min, heated to 95

C at 12

C/min cooling rate, held at
95

C for 2.5 min, before cooling from 95 to 50

C at 12

C/min
heating rate and holding at 50

C for 2 min. Parameters recorded
were pasting temperature, peak viscosity, trough viscosity
(minimum viscosity at 95

C), nal viscosity (viscosity at 50

C),
breakdown viscosity (peak-trough viscosity) and setback viscosity
(nal-trough viscosity).
2.2.6. Preparation of cookies
2.2.6.1. Water absorption of our samples. Water absorption of our
samples (containing varying proportion of water chestnut our and
wheat our) used for cookies preparation was determined using
the method of Anderson, Conway, Afeiffer, and Grifn (1969). Five g
of our sample was weighed into a centrifuge tube and 30 ml of
water added and mixed thoroughly. This was allowed to stand for
(i) 0.1 g/100 g : 0 g/100 g (ii)0.1 g/100 g : 0.2 g/100 g
(iii) 0.1 g/100 g: 0.5 g/100 g (iv) 0.1 g/100 g: 1.0 g/100 g
G.D. Singh et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 44 (2011) 665e672 666
30 min and centrifuged at 805g for 15 min. The supernatant was
then decanted and the sample was weighed again. The amount of
the water retained in the sample was recorded as weight gain and
was taken as water absorbed. The results were expressed as weight
of water absorbed in g per 100 g dry matter of the sample.
2.2.6.2. Cookie ingredients and dough preparation. The cookie
dough was prepared according to the following formula: 100 g our
(containing varying proportion of water chestnut our and wheat
our) 40 g sugar, 50 g shortening, 1 g sodium chloride, 0.5 g
ammonium bicarbonate and sufcient water to make required
consistency of cookie dough.
Cookie dough was prepared according to the formula of
Nishibori and Kawakishi (1990) with slight modications. The our
containing various proportions of water chestnut and wheat our,
which had been sieved twice, was mixed with shortening and
rubbed in till uniform. Thereafter, water containing ground sugar,
salt and ammonium carbonate was added in. The dough was thinly
rolled on a sheeting board to uniform thickness (3.4 mm) and cut
using a round cutter to a diameter of 40 mm. The dough pieces
were baked in greased pans at 180

C for 15 min. The baked cookies

were cooled for 20 min and stored in air tight container till further
analyses.
2.2.7. Evaluation of cookies
2.2.7.1. Spread ratio. Diameter (D) and thickness (T) of the ten
cookies from each batch were measured using a vernier caliper.
Spread ratio was calculated as D/T. Average values of determina-
tions were reported.
2.2.7.2. Fracture strength (snap test). The snap test was conducted
using a 3-point bending rig attached to texture analyzer. The
distance between two beams was 30 mm. Another identical beam
was brought down from above at a pre-test speed:2.0 mm/s, test
speed:0.5 mm/s, post-test speed:10.0 mm/s, distance:5 mm to
contact the cookie. The downward movement was continued till
the cookie broke. The peak force was reported as fracture strength.
2.2.7.3. Sensory evaluation and statistical analysis. The cookies
were evaluated by a panel consisting of 10 members consisting of
Teachers of the department of Food Engineering & Technology,
S.L.I.E.T., Longowal, Sangrur (India). The panelists were nave to the
project. To provide a quiet and comfortable environment the
samples were evaluated in the air-conditioned laboratory. Coded
samples of cookies were served on a white disposable plastic tray
and distilled water was provided for rinsing the mouth. A nine-
point hedonic scale with 1 dislike extremely, 5 neither like nor
dislike, 9 like extremely was used (Larmond, 1977). The members
were given written instructions to score on parameters viz.
appearance (dull to attractive), color (very dark brown to light
brown), initial bite (hard to crisp), taste (burnt to sweet) and
mouthfeel (teeth clogging to crunchy). The mean of 10 evaluations
was reported.
2.2.8. Statistical analysis
The data reported in all the tables were subjected to one-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Minitab Statistical Software
version 13 (Minitab, Inc., State College, USA).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Optimization of method for our preparation
The results obtained after various treatments of water chestnut
kernels at different levels, is displayed in Table 1. Whole water
chestnuts subjected to hot boiling in NaOH solution could only
remove 70 g/100 g of the total shell from kernels, calculated from
the total weight of the shell received after removing remaining
shell with hand. In addition it was observed that the purple color of
the shell of water chestnut, during treatment, got infused into the
white kernel which resulted in bluish color slices after drying, thus
reducing the color value of our. The lye peeling method thus was
discarded and hand peeling method was preferred instead.
Blanching of slices before drying resulted in production of slices,
harder in texture. This hardness posed difculty in grinding and
sifting as all the slices could not be grounded resulting in lower
yield of ne our. Blanching might have caused surface gelatini-
zation of slices, resulting in production of hard slices. Hence, the
blanching process was discarded. Control samples (without any
prior treatment) resulted in production of inferior colored our
probably because of surface discoloration due to oxidation of
phenolics caused by PPO (Polyphenol oxidase) (Saltveit, 2000). The
proposed optimized method for preparation of water chestnut our
is shown in Fig. 1
Treatment of water chestnut slices with different levels of KMS
and citric acid did not show any signicant difference in total yield
but the color of the our improved signicantly. Addition of citric
acid to the solution used for treatment of water chestnut kernels
increased the color retention of slices during drying. Santerre, Cash,
and Vannorman (1988) reported that application of citric acid can
prevent browning of sliced apple. Treatment of fruit slices with
0.1 g/100 g KMS and 0.5 g/100 g citric acid for 30 min before drying
exhibited best results in terms color of the our obtained thereafter.
Further, increase in concentration of citric acid showed almost
similar results with respect to the color of the nal product and
thus was avoided. In our earlier studies (Singh et al., 2008) drying of
water chestnut slices at 70

C resulted in better color slices having
highest color value. Whiter our was obtained following optimized
method in comparison to the market our sample.
Table 1
Effect of pre-treatments of water chestnut kernel before drying on yield and color of our
y
S. no. Pretreatment Flour yield (g/100 g) Color of our Observations
L
*
a
*
b
*
(DE)
1. Control 25.90
c
81.95
b
0.201
e
2.342
b
81.98
b
Lower color value of our
2. Lye peeling of whole water chestnut 21.23
b
76.27
a
3.211
a
8.825
e
76.85
a
Discarded owing to low color value of our
3. Blanching 15.63
a
83.43
c
3.099
f
1.387
d
83.51
c
Improper grinding due to gelatinization of outer
layer of kernel resulting in lower yield of our.
4. 0.1 g/100 g KMS 25.72
c
84.02
d
1.473
d
2.329
b
84.07
c
Lower color value
5. 0.1 g/100 g KMS and 0.2 g/100 g citric acid 25.75
c
86.34
e
2.356c 2.632
a
86.41
d
Lower color value
6. 0.1 g/100 g KMS and 0.5 g/100 g citric acid 25.95
c
87.46
f
2.672
b
2.164
c
87.53
e
Best in terms of color value of our
7. 0.1 g/100 g KMS and 1 g/100 g citric acid 25.89
c
87.48
f
2.397
c
2.348
b
87.54
e
Further increase in concentration of citric acid
did not affect the color signicantly.
y
Values in the same column with different letters are signicantly different (P < 0.05).
G.D. Singh et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 44 (2011) 665e672 667
3.2. Physicochemical analyses of water chestnut our
A summary of the proximate compositions of water chestnut
our prepared by the optimized method is presented inTable 2. The
moisture content in our was found out to be 8.19 g/100 g. Moisture
content is directly related to the drying method, drying time, and
period and conditions of storage (Lizada & Guzman, 1982). The
protein content as expected, was found out be low. Aprianita,
Purwandari, Watson, and Vasiljevic (2009) found that yam had
the protein content of 10.46 and taro 6.28 whilst sweet potato had
the lowest value of 3.15 g/100 g. Lipid and total ash content were
0.89 g/100 g and 2.3 g/100 g, respectively. Lee and Hwang (1998)
reported Potassium content of Chinese water chestnuts was
408.57 mg/100 gmand was the major mineral; Iron and Manganese
contents were 0.21 and 0.08 mg/100 g, respectively. Vitamin B1 and
C contents were 31.2 mg/100 g and trace, respectively. According to
Puste (2004), water chestnut kernels are abundant source of starch,
minerals, amino acids and vitamins. Good quantity of minerals
justies its use in preparation of health foods.
The color value (DE) of the our produced was 87.53. The loose
and packed bulk densities of water chestnut our observed also
depicted in Table 2. Bulk density helps in determining the pack-
aging requirements for the product. Total sugars and reducing
sugars detected in our sample were 10.42 g/100 g and 6.2 g/100 g,
respectively. The our had typical sweet nutty avor which is liked
by many people. In northern parts of the country especially Punjab
state its our is added to milk and boiled thoroughly to have
a characteristic avor in milk. The water chestnut our has been
used as a binding material in various products. Londhe, Joglekar,
Patil, Awaz, and Bhonsle (2000) concluded that the water
chestnut our used at 10 g/100 g level resulted in comparatively
better body make up of Gulab Jamun (an Indian traditional sweet).
The water binding capacity calculated was 89.75 g/100 g. The
difference in the degree of availability of water binding sites may
have contributed to the variation inwater binding capacity (Wotton
& Bamunuarachchi, 1978). Oil binding capacity was found out to be
low justifying its use in fried foods.
Whole Water chestnuts
Washing
Hand Peeling
Cooling and Grinding
Control
0.1g/100g KMS &
0.2g/100g CA
0.1g/100g KMS &
1g/100g CA
Blanching 0.1g/100g KMS
0.1g/100g KMS &
0.5g/100g CA
Drying at 60C Drying at 70C Drying at 90C Drying at 80C
Sieving ( 177m )
Packaging in double Polythene and storage at 4C
Lye Peeling
Drying at 50C
Fig. 1. Optimized method for preparation of water chestnut our.
Table 2
Physicochemical properties of water chestnut our
y
Constituent Values
Moisture (g/100 g) 8.19 0.67
Protein (g/100 g) 2.97 0.16 (dwb)
Ash (g/100 g) 2.35 0.32 (dwb)
Lipid (g/100 g) 0.89 0.11
Total sugars (g/100 g) 10.42 (dwb)
Starch (g/100 g) 74.17 0.32 (dwb)
Reducing sugars (g/100 g) 6.20 (dwb)
Bulk density (g/ml) Loose 0.697 0.19
Packed 0.992 02
Water binding capacity g/100 g 89.75 0.12 (dwb)
Oil binding capacity g/100 g 60.39 0.08 (dwb)
y
Average of triplicate analyses Mean standard deviation.
G.D. Singh et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 44 (2011) 665e672 668
3.3. Sieve analysis
Sieve analysis of water chestnut our is displayed in Fig. 2. The
mean particle size calculated was 268.20 mm. Almost 1/4th of the
our fraction was retained by sieves 30 (651 mm) and 36 (510 mm)
thereby increasing the mean particle size of granules. The outer
rind of the fruit kernel upon drying contributes coarse fraction of
the our which in turn increases the average size of our. An
important result that derived from the experimental data is that
more than 40% of the our showed particle size lower than 100 mm,
and a bimodal distribution of the particle size was observed in the
pattern analysis.
3.4. Morphological properties
SEM of water chestnut examined at 1000 revealed that the
granules present in water chestnut our were polyhedral (Fig. 3).
Although size majority of granules was found out to be medium
having diameter in the range of 5e20 mm but small size granules
having diameter 5 mm or less contributed only 10% of the lot. The
surface of most of our granules was smooth but some were
irregular.
Starch is considered as the main compounds of chestnut ours
(Correia, Leito, & Beiro-da-Costa, 2009); it is also expected to be
responsible for the chestnut our characteristics. Granules of ours
produced show a kind of vesicles that come from inside starch
granules probably due to starch modications. Starch granules
seem to be surrounded by some amount of other materials, like
bres and proteins, giving a raising dust appearance that may also
contribute to those characteristics.
3.5. Pasting properties
Pasting properties is an important index in determining the
cooking and baking qualities of ours. Pasting prole of the water
chestnut our prepared by optimized method (S) was examined
against the water chestnut our bought from the market (M) as
shown in Fig. 4. The water chestnut our prepared by optimized
method exhibited higher peak viscosity than the market our
(Table 3). Peak viscosity is a measure of the water-holding capacity
of the starch in terms of the resistance of swollen granules to shear
and the swelling performance of granules (Dengate, 1984). Taro and
yam ours were reported to have highest peak viscosity (Aprianita
et al., 2009) which may indicate a greater structural rigidity in
comparison to sweet potato our (Leon, Barrera, Perez, Ribotta, &
Rosell, 2006). Earlier we reported the peak viscosity of the water
chestnut starch to be 5554 cP lower than that of potato starch
8112 cP and higher than corn starch 2907 cP (Singh, Singh, Bawa, &
Saxena, 2009).
The market water chestnut our, prepared under unhygienic
conditions contains large fractions of impurities resulting in
decreased concentration of starch and hence reduced pasting
strength (Alves et al., 2002). Sweet potato starch have been
reported to have high peak viscosity and they become thinner
rapidly with prolonged cooking before thickening on cooling (Tian,
Rickard, & Blanshard, 1991).Trough viscosity (TV) was also found
out to be higher in optimized our sample than that of market
sample.
The breakdown (peak viscosity minus trough viscosity), regar-
ded as a measure of degree of disintegration of granules, i.e. of paste
stability (Dengate, 1984; Newport Scientic, 1995), was too higher
for optimized water chestnut our against market sample. During
breakdown, the swollen granules are disrupted, and amylose
molecules will generally leach out into the solution (Whistler &
BeMiller, 1997). The breakdown value was found to be closely
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
707 651 510 390 326 274 200 137 63
Average particle size (m)
W
a
t
e
r

c
h
e
s
t
n
u
t

f
l
o
u
r

(
g
/
1
0
0
g
)
Fig. 2. Sieve analysis of water chestnut our. ue mean standard deviation.
Fig. 3. Scanning electron micrograph of water chestnut our.
0
800
1600
2400
0 3 6 9 12 15
Time (min)
V
i
s
c
o
s
i
t
y

(
c
P
)
Fig. 4. The RVA viscoamylogram of water chestnut ours. The RVA viscoamylogram of
water chestnut ours. dWCF (Optimized method); -WCF (Market our sample).
G.D. Singh et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 44 (2011) 665e672 669
related to peak viscosity. The increase in viscosity after cooling i.e.
nal viscosity indicate that the paste can be more resistant to
shearing and can forma more rigid gel (Zhang, Niu, Eckhoff, & Feng,
2005), which suggests a pronounced tendency to retrogradation.
High-amylose (linear) starches re-associate more readily than high-
amylopectin (branched) starches (Bultosa, Hall, & Taylor, 2002).
However, in optimized our sample, the nal viscosity was noticed
to be lower than its contemporary. After gelatinization, the
amylose chains leached out of the granule and when temperature
decreases the amylose chains rapidly recrystallize, leading to an
increase of the viscosity (Miles, Morris, Orford, & Ring, 1985). The
pasting temperature in water chestnut our was found out to be
77.4

C (2.1

C higher) than that for the water chestnut starch
obtained from same variety of water chestnut reported by us in
another study (Singh et al., 2009). Previously sweet potato our and
yam our have been reported to have pasting temperature of
80.98

C and 72.75

C respectively, by Aprianita et al. (2009).
Zaidul, Norulaini, Omar, Yamauchi, and Noda (2007) studied the
pasting properties of mixtures of wheat our and tuber starches
and concluded that the peak, breakdown, nal, and setback
viscosities of the control wheat our were lower than those of the
control potato, sweet potato, Yam, and cassava starches. The peak
viscosity of wheatepotato mixtures was observed to be higher than
others because of the higher phosphorus and lower amylose
content of potato.
3.6. Water chestnut our cookies
3.6.1. Water absorption of our samples
Water chestnut our exhibited higher values for water absorp-
tion than wheat our. With the increase in proportion of water
chestnut our the values for water absorption increased linearly as
shown inTable 4. Lower protein and lipid fraction inwater chestnut
our may be attributed for the reason. Particle size also may have
contributed for the same. Higher water absorption may decrease
dough stability and extensibility (Chung & Park, 1997).
3.6.2. Quality of cookies
The spread ratio was higher for cookies made from control and
decreased with increasing the proportion of water chestnut our
although the decrease was neither signicant nor persistent as
shown in Table 4. Spread ratio is affected by the competition of
ingredients for available water (Claughton & Peacce, 1989). Ingredi-
ents whichabsorbwater during mixing will reduce it. Lower ovenrise
during baking of dough containing water chestnut our contributed
for the same. Tangkanakul, Tungtrakul, and Vatanasuchart (1995)
reported that spread factor of cookies decreased with increasing
levels of ber. Lawson (1972) found that cookies thickness was found
to be positively correlated with dough piece weight and oven
temperature and negatively correlated with oven humidity.
Increase in bulk density was observed with the increase in
proportion of water chestnut our. Bulk density of control sample
was higher as compared to that of cookies prepared from water
chestnut our only. Hwang and Hayakawa (1980) demonstrated
that biscuit density (which controls biscuit weight and dimensions)
is quite sensitive to oven temperature. Rask and Hallstrom (1990)
found that moisture loss during baking is also strongly inuenced
by oven temperature. Addition of water chestnut our resulted in
decrease in oven rise during baking process which resulted in
decrease in average diameter and width in comparison to control
sample and hence spread ratio of cookies got reduced constantly
with the increase in water chestnut our proportion.
The fracture strength also increased progressively with the
increase in water chestnut proportion from 2632 to 3421 g. This
may be attributed to the fact that water chestnut our having lesser
fat content than that of wheat and thus is considered drier our.
Gas retention is a property of wheat protein (gluten). During dough
development, the gluten becomes extensive and strong. This allows
the dough to rise and also prevents easy escape of the gas during
baking, thus, providing an open and porous texture for the baked
product.
3.6.3. Sensory characteristics of cookies
Sensory evaluation data (Table 5) shows that the cookies made
with the water chestnut our only scored good range of acceptance.
Not much difference was observed in appearance and color of the
cookies (Fig. 5). Because of sweet and nutty avor of water chestnut
our, panel could hardly make out the extent of water chestnut
our added to wheat our in cookies preparation. Although overall
Table 4
Effects of incorporation of water chestnut our into wheat our on the water absorption and physical characteristics of cookies
y
Water chestnut our (g/100 g) Water absorption (g/100 g) Width (mm) Thickness (mm) Spread ratio Density (g/cc) Fracture strength (g)
Control (0) 28.45
a
47.0
e
5.9
f
7.96
c
0.575
e
2632
a
50 45.73
b
45.5
d
5.8
e
7.84
b
0.565
d
3150
b
60 52.24
bc
45.0
d
5.7
d
7.89
bc
0.563
d
3230
c
70 55.67
c
44.0
c
5.6
c
7.85
b
0.554
c
3290
d
80 67.43
d
43.5
bc
5.6
c
7.76
a
0.543
b
3353
e
90 78.54
e
43.0
b
5.5
b
7.81
ab
0.540
ab
3382
f
100 89.75
f
42.0
a
5.4
a
7.78
a
0.536
a
3421
g
Average of three determinations.
y
Values in the same column with different letters are signicantly different (P < 0.05).
Table 3
Pasting properties of water chestnut our samples
y
Water chestnut our PV (cP) TV (cP) BV (cP) FV (cP) SV (cP) P
Temp
(

C)
Optimized method 2611
b
1713
b
898
b
2247
a
534
a
77.45
a
Market our 1912
a
1287
a
625
a
2795
b
1508
b
79.05
b
PV, peak viscosity; TV, trough viscosity; BV, breakdown viscosity; FV, nal viscosity;
SV, setback viscosity; P
Temp
, pasting temperature. Average of triplicate measure-
ments, n 3.
y
Values in the same column with different lower letters are signicantly different
(P < 0.05).
Table 5
Sensory characteristics of cookies made from different blends of water chestnut and
wheat our
y
Water chestnut our
(g/100 g)
Appearance Color Initial
bite
Taste Mouthfeel Overall
acceptance
0 8.1
c
7.5
c
8.5
d
8.6
d
8.6
d
8.26
d
60 8.0
c
7.2
b
7.9
c
7.8
c
7.6
c
7.70
c
70 7.8
b
7.2
b
8.0
c
7.8
c
7.5
b
7.66
c
80 7.8
b
7.2
b
7.7
ab
7.4
a
7.6
c
7.54
b
90 7.5
a
7.1
ab
7.8
b
7.6
b
7.3
a
7.46
ab
100 7.5
a
7.0
a
7.6
a
7.4
a
7.5
b
7.40
a
y
values in a column followed by same letters do not differ signicantly (P 0.05).
G.D. Singh et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 44 (2011) 665e672 670
variation and other parameters showed a downfall trend as the
water chestnut our proportion was increased but still overall
acceptance scored well. Even the cookies prepared from whole
water chestnut our earned good response from the panel with
overall acceptance of 7.4 as compared to control samples with score
of 8.26. Cookies made from water chestnut our can be improved
by addition of some articial avor and improver.
4. Conclusion
Treatment of water chestnut slices with 0.1 g/100 g KMS and
0.5 g/100 g citric acid for 30 min before drying exhibited best
results in terms color of the our. The mean particle size of water
chestnut our calculated was 268.20 mm. The granules present in
water chestnut our were polyhedral, bearing smooth surface and
diameter in the range of 5e20 mm. With the increase in proportion
of water chestnut our the values for water absorption increased
linearly from 28.45 to 89.75 g/100 g. The optimized water chestnut
our showed higher peak viscosity and lower nal viscosity than
the market our. Cookies prepared from water chestnut our
blends earned good response from sensory panel.
Acknowledgements
The rst author gratefully thanks Mr. Virendar Kumar (Techni-
cian) for his help to perform RVA at their department of Food
Science and Technology, GNDU, Amritsar. Thanks to Sh Mohinder
Kumar (Sr. Technician), SAIF SEM Lab, Punjab University,
Chandigarh for providing research facility for Scanning Electron
Microscopy.
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