Evaluation of cookery methods in reduction of pesticide residues and quality attributes of okra fruit (Abelmoschus esculentus L.)

Bushra Ishfaq,Aysha Sameen,Imran Pasha,Muhammad Abrar,Muhammad Shahid

doi:10.1590/fst.86021

Abstract

The objective of the current investigation was to evaluate the okra before cooking (fresh) and after cooking to determine the best cooking method by using compositional analysis, colour, texture, sensory evaluation and pesticide residues reduction. The cooking methods used were steam blanching, simmering, baking and sautéing. Cooking treatments resulted in a momentous increase (p < 0.05) in crude fibre and fat content during sautéing and total carbohydrate in baking in comparison to control. The CIE lab coordinates (L* and b*) significantly decreased while a* increased in all cooking treatments except in baking. The texture analysis revealed a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in shear force N (Newton) due to contact of the heating medium in moist cooking i.e. steam blanching and simmering. Sautéing and steam blanching scored better and showed acceptance of the consumers except simmering that exhibited lower acceptability (p < 0.01). Moreover, among the analyzed pesticide residues, minimum reduction occurred in cypermethrin (8.57-37.14-%), while the chlorpyrifos was completely removed in case of baking and sautéing. Among all cooking treatments, only sautéing resulted in maximum pesticide residues reduction. The study revealed that the sautéing cooking treatment was best to preserve the vegetable nutrients compounds, maximum pesticide residues reduction and maybe among preferred cooking treatments.

Highlights

Okra belongs to the family Malvaceae, having the botanical name Abelmoschus esculentus L
All cooking treatments resulted in a significant reduction of moisture content except simmering owing to direct contact of the sample with water which resulted in higher retention of moisture content
The crude protein content was high in fresh okra that was reduced after cooking treatments and might be due to thermal degradation

Summary

Introduction

Okra belongs to the family Malvaceae, having the botanical name Abelmoschus esculentus L. In local terms, it is named as “Bhindi”. This medicinal and aromatic vegetable is characterized by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as “Herb of Unidentified Safety”. World widely the area under cultivation for okra is 2.16 million hectares and production is estimated as 8.90 million tons. Pakistan ranked at 5th number with its 1.3% share in the World area under cultivation is 1.55 million hectares and the production of okra is 0.128 tonnes in Pakistan (Saleem et al, 2020). The immature okra pods comprising white, round seeds, largely consumed as a vegetable in a variety of ways and is a prominent constitute of diet in West Africa, Ethiopian and South Asian countries. Its water-soluble polysaccharide is offering a healthful choice and stable storage life to food commodities and is very often used in baked goods, potato chips and ice cream (Hu & Lai, 2017)

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Conclusion