Evaluation of Tapuy Lees as a Functional Ingredient in the Snack Food Polvoron

Abstract

AbstractRice wine lees is a major by‐product generated in the Philippine rice wine or tapuy production. Flour was developed using tapuy lees and used as a functional ingredient in polvoron. Preparation of flour involved washing of the pressed lees, filtration, sterilization, drying and grinding to a fine powder. The water activity of the sample was <0.400 and microbial loads were within acceptable limits, with 2.30 × 104 cfu/g total plate count and 2.50 cfu/g mold count. The flour had high crude protein (45.03 ± 0.14%) and dietary fiber (13.10 ± 0.08%) levels. When used in polvoron, up to 50% (w/w) of lees can be substituted to all‐purpose flour with minimal effect on quality. Using 33% lees, significant improvement in crude protein content was noted, without adversely affecting the taste and overall sensory quality of the product. Results demonstrated the feasibility of producing a functional food ingredient using a major by‐product of tapuy production.Practical ApplicationsLees is a nutritious, but underutilized, by‐product of rice wine manufacture. In tapuy production, a large volume of lees (about 27% of the weight of raw rice) is generated and is merely discarded. The use of lees in the development of value‐added food products will be a step toward making nutrient‐dense foods available to consumers, while addressing waste management problem from rice wine production. Results of this study would provide manufacturers of rice wine a valuable resource to make their process more efficient and productive. This will also serve as a basis to further explore the nutritional quality of rice wine lees and its potential applications in other food products.