Abstract
The halal food market is steadily increasing. The use of alcohol for any reason is strictly prohibited in halal foods; however, ethanol is widely used as a preservative for commercial rice cakes (tteok). The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of natural substances as alternative preservatives for rice cakes. Four different solutions were tested: distilled water (control), ethanol, grapefruit seed extract (GSE), and a mixture of citric extracts and organic acids (MCO). We investigated the total plate count (TPC), yeast and mold counts, color, texture profile assays (TPA), and sensory evaluation. Significant reductions of 3.65 log CFU were observed in TPC in rice cake treated with MCO solution after 28 days of storage. However, mold and yeast counts were only reduced by ethanol treatment. Among the physical texture properties analysis, hardness was maintained for the 28 days in all samples. The total color difference values (ΔE) revealed no significant color changes in any rice cake compared to the controls. The ethanol-treated rice cake scored the lowest for overall preference and desired hardness.
Highlights
IntroductionHalal food laws strictly prohibit the use of haram (which literally means prohibited), meaning that foods containing haram animals and any form of alcohol should not be included in halal foods designed for Muslims [1,2]
On Day 0, the rice cake treated with ethanol had the lowest total plate counts among the samples, indicating an immediate antimicrobial activity of ethanol
Compared to grapefruit seed extract (GSE), the MCO-treated rice cake reduced the total plate count (TPC) by 3.05 log CFU/g
Summary
Halal food laws strictly prohibit the use of haram (which literally means prohibited), meaning that foods containing haram animals and any form of alcohol should not be included in halal foods designed for Muslims [1,2]
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