Quality evaluation of bamboo seed and its products

Abstract

The study on “Quality evaluation of bamboo seed and its products” was undertaken to evaluate the cooking, biochemical, nutritional and organoleptic qualities of bamboo seed. The study also aimed to assess the physical qualities, organoleptic qualities and keeping qualities of bamboo seed flour stored for three months. Cooking time of 70 min was taken for obtaining optimum cooked bamboo seed. The water uptake by bamboo seed while cooking was found to be 6.90 ml/g with a volume expansion ratio of 2.16. Grain elongation ratio in bamboo seed was recorded as 0.89. The amylose content in bamboo seed was found to be 34.4 percent. The gelatinisation temperature index in bamboo seed was high. A medium gel consistency of 48.20 mm was observed in bamboo seed. The moisture content in dried and milled bamboo seed was found to be 6.70 percent. Bamboo seed contains 13.78 percent protein. The fat content in bamboo seed was one percent. Starch content in bamboo seed was 62.56 percent. Reducing sugar and total sugar in bamboo seed was 0.41 and 0.99 percent respectively. Fibre content in bamboo seed was 0.92 percent. The calcium, iron and phosphorus contents of bamboo seed were 30.60 mg, 5.94 mg and 158.60 mg respectively per 100g of bamboo seed. In vitro starch digestibility of bamboo seed was found to be 50.16 percent. In vitro availability of calcium, iron and phosphorus of bamboo seed was also estimated and it was found to be 20.20, 10.72 and 20.72 percent respectively. The organoleptic qualities of bamboo seed were evaluated by preparing three products namely cooked rice, kanji and payasam. Cooked rice, kanji and payasam had mean score above 7.00 for all parameters. Among the three products, bamboo seed payasam was found to be the most acceptable product with higher mean score for all the parameters except for texture. For texture bamboo seed kanji had the maximum score. Roasted and unroasted flours prepared from bamboo seed were evaluated for various physical qualities. The bulk density of roasted flour decreased during storage whereas in unroasted flour it remained same (0.80 g/ml). Water absorption index, water solubility index and starch content decreased during three months of storage in both roasted and unroasted bamboo seed flour. Gluten was not found in both roasted and unroasted bamboo seed flour initially and at the end of storage. The evaluation of retrogradation property in bamboo seed flour revealed that the syneresis percentage increased with advancement in days of observation. However a decrease in percentage of syneresis was noted during storage in both roasted and unroasted bamboo seed flour. Products namely puttu, idiyappam and ada were prepared using roasted flour and appam, unniyappam and murukku were prepared using unroasted bamboo seed flour. Bamboo seed puttu was identified as the most acceptable product from roasted bamboo seed flour. Among the products prepared using unroasted bamboo seed flour bamboo seed unniyappam was the most acceptable one followed by bamboo seed murukku and bamboo seed appam. The roasted and unroasted bamboo seed flour was evaluated for bacteria, fungi and yeasts initially and at the end of third month of storage. Presence of bacteria was detected in both roasted and unroasted flour and the count increased in unroasted flour during storage. Fungal count was not detected in roasted bamboo seed flour in both evaluations. But, in unroasted flour fungal count was noticed (1×103 cfu g-1) at the end of three months of storage. Presence of yeast was not detected in both roasted and unroasted flour. Insect infestation was not noticed in both roasted and unroasted bamboo seed flour.