Drumstick (Moringa oleifera) Flower as an Antioxidant Dietary Fibre in Chicken Meat Nuggets.

Jose Lorenzo,Pratap Madane,Banibrata Maity,Akshay Shewalkar,Francisco Barba,Prasant Jagtap,Pramod Nanda,Mirian Pateiro,Arun Das,Samiran Bandyopadhyay

doi:10.3390/foods8080307

Abstract

The present work investigated the efficacy of Moringa flower (MF) extract to develop a functional chicken product. Three groups of cooked chicken nuggets—control (C), T1 (with 1% MF) and T2 (2% MF)—were elaborated and their physicochemical, nutritional, storage stability and sensory attributes were assessed during refrigerated storage at 4 °C up to 20 days. In addition, MF extracts were characterised in terms of chemical composition, total phenolic content and its components using high-performance liquid chromatography with a diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD), dietary fibre and antioxidant capacity. MF contained high protein (17.87 ± 0.28 dry matter), dietary fibre (36.14 ± 0.77 dry matter) and total phenolics (18.34 ± 1.16 to 19.49 ± 1.35 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry matter) content. The treated nuggets (T1 and T2) had significantly enhanced cooking yield, emulsion stability, ash, protein, total phenolics and dietary fibre compared to control. Incorporation of MF extract at 2% not only significantly reduced the redness/increased the lightness, but also decreased the hardness, gumminess and chewiness of the product compared to control. Moreover, the addition of MF extract significantly improved the oxidative stability and odour scores by reducing lipid oxidation during storage time. Sensory attributes of nuggets were not affected by the addition of MF extract and the products remained stable and acceptable even on 15th day of storage. These results showed that MF extract could be considered as an effective natural functional ingredient for quality improvement and reducing lipid oxidation in cooked chicken nuggets.

Highlights

Muscle foods are an excellent source of high-quality protein with high biological value
Considering the benefits of both dietary fibre and antioxidants in a single material, the objective of this study was to assess the potential use of Moringa flower (M. oleifera) as antioxidant dietary fibres (ADF) or functional ingredients in meat food system to enhance the nutritional quality, storage stability and acceptability of meat products
Our findings are in disagreement with the data reported by other authors in Moringa flower (MF) extract [35,36]

Summary

Introduction

Muscle foods are an excellent source of high-quality protein with high biological value. The bioavailability of micronutrients such as iron, selenium, vitamins A, B12, folic acid, sodium, potassium and magnesium of these matrices is much higher than from plant sources [1]. In spite of being nutritious, meat is deficient in dietary fibre, a complex mixture of polysaccharides, which is naturally present as a part of plant material in cereals, vegetables, fruits and nuts. Lack of adequate quantity of dietary fibres in our diet has been involved in several health disorders such as colon cancer, Foods 2019, 8, 307; doi:10.3390/foods8080307 www.mdpi.com/journal/foods. A fibre-rich diet is lower in energy density and richer in micronutrients reducing several disorders [3], and thereby promotes a healthier lifestyle. Many food and food products, including meat products, lack of minimum amounts of dietary fibre [4] to fulfil the recommended dietary intake, and differ in the quantity and composition of fibres

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