Desired Quality Attributes Research Articles

Temperature affects long-term productivity and quality attributes of day-neutral strawberry for a space life-support system

Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa L.) is a promising candidate crop for space life-support systems with desirable sensory quality and health attributes. Day-neutral cultivars such as ‘Seascape’ are adaptable to a range of photoperiods, including short days that would save considerable energy for crop lighting without reductions in productivity or yield. Since photoperiod and temperature interact to affect strawberry growth and development, several diurnal temperature regimes were tested under a short photoperiod of 10 h per day for effects on yield and quality attributes of ‘Seascape’ strawberry during production cycles longer than 270 days. The coolest day/night temperature regime, 16°/8 °C, tended to produce smaller numbers of larger fruit than did the intermediate temperature range of 18°/10 °C or the warmest regime, 20°/12 °C, both of which produced similar larger numbers of smaller fruit. The intermediate temperature regime produced the highest total fresh mass of berries over an entire production cycle. Independent experiments examined either organoleptic or physicochemical quality attributes. Organoleptic evaluation indicated that fruit grown under the coolest temperature regime tended to score the highest for both hedonic preference and descriptive evaluation of sensory attributes related to sweetness, texture, aftertaste, and overall approval. The physicochemical quality attributes Brix, pH, and sugar/acid ratio were highest for fruits harvested from the coolest temperature regime and lower for those from the warmer temperature regimes. The cool-regime fruits also were lowest in titratable acidity. The yield parameters fruit number and size oscillated over the course of a production cycle, with a gradual decline in fruit size under all three temperature regimes. Brix and titratable acidity both decreased over time for all three temperature treatments, but sugar/acid ratio remained highest for the cool temperature regime over the entire production period. Periodic rejuvenation or replacement of strawberry propagules may be needed to maintain both quality and quantity of strawberry yield in space.

Influence of duck species and cross-breeding on sensory and quality characteristics of Alabio and Cihateup duck meat

The current study was designed to assess the effect of strain on lipid content, fatty acid profile, and sensory attributes of duck meat derived from two duck strains, Alabio and Cihateup strain, and their crossbreeds (sex ratio 1:1). The groups evaluated were as follow: AA (Alabio ♂ × Alabio ♀), CC (Cihateup ♂ × Cihateup ♀) and the crossbreeding of AC (Alabio ♂ × Cihateup ♀) and CA (Cihateup ♂ × Alabio ♀). Analysis of the chemical composition and sensory properties of meat was assessed on thigh muscles. The crossbreeds were characterized by the lowest fatness (P < 0.05). The crossbreeds had greater (P < 0.05) percentage total saturated fatty acids, whereas CA crossbreed had the highest total saturated fatty acid level (P < 0.05). Based on the hedonic test, no differences (P > 0.05) existed among the treatments with regard to meat taste, while meat from AC was preferred (P < 0.05) by panelists over the other groups with respect to aroma and overall acceptability. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that AC meat had lower off-odor intensity, and on average panelists positively differentiated (P < 0.05) AC meat. Overall, our data suggest that AC duck meat resulted in more desirable quality attributes.

Agronomic and Physicochemical Evaluation of Sweet Potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] Collections in Ethiopia

The productivity of sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] is mainly dependant on the acquisition accessions which posses desirable traits and development of high yielding varieties with desired quality attributes. For this purpose, Haramaya University collected 116 sweet potato accessions from International and National sources to develop varieties for eastern Ethiopia; however, the accessions characterization and documentation were not exhaustively done to support the improvement program. Therefore, this study was conducted during 2012/2013 cropping season to characterize, evaluate, and documenting of agronomic and physicochemical attributes of sweet potato accessions at Haramaya. Augmented design consisting of 114 entries/tests and two checks were used. Varied number of accessions recorded significantly higher values than the mean of the checks for days to physiological maturity, above ground fresh biomass, storage root fresh weight, total storage root yield, marketable storage root yield, reducing sugar, total sugar, and total starch content, pH, dry matter content, total soluble solid, specific gravity and peel content. Tis-9465-7 had the highest storage root fresh weight yield; marketable storage root yield and total storage root yield and Koka-12 and CN-2069-7 exhibited significantly highest values than mean of the checks for days to physiological maturity and above ground fresh biomass, respectively. CN-1752-14, CN-2056-8 and Tis-80/043-1 for reducing sugar, pH and total soluble solid, respectively, exhibited significantly highest values, while CN-1752-15 recorded the highest total sugar and total starch content. Korojo had significantly highest values for specific gravity, dry matter. Tis-82/0602 were exhibited that the lowest in peel content. Elliptic shape (27.19%) and horizontal constriction (45.62%) defect were dominant in the accessions. Most of the accession had white skin color (22.6%) while 21.92% accessions had creamy flesh color.

Popping quality attributes of popcorn hybrids in relation to weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) infestation

A set of 21 popcorn hybrids were evaluated at multilocations to study the effects of weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) infestation on popping quality traits. Wide genetic variation for percent popping expansion (PPE) and grain popping percentage (GPP) after weevil infestation were observed. PPE and GPP varied from 6.09–85.21% and 4.33–66.67%, across locations, respectively. The mean PPE was 52.90%, while same for GPP was 23.46%. Significant effects of environment and genotype × environment interactions were observed for both PPE and GPP. Strong positive correlation (r=0.89) across locations was recorded between PPE and GPP. Despite weevil infestation, popcorn hybrids viz., PH114 (PPE: 83.18%, GPP: 54.11%), PH110 (PPE: 69.27%, GPP: 33.11%), PH103 (PPE: 65.84%, GPP: 26.78%), PH112 (PPE: 64.91%, GPP: 29.22%) and PH109 (PPE: 64.48%, GPP: 29.00%) were identified as promising with desirable popping quality traits. Many of the popcorn hybrids possessed undesirable popping characteristics (12 hybrids with <60% PPE; 18 hybrids with <30% GPP) upon infestation. Despite having a common notion that popcorn genotypes are relatively resistant than other types of maize grain, many of the popcorn hybrids were highly susceptible to weevils leading to undesirable popping quality attributes. The study emphasizes the need for breeding weevil resistant popcorn genotypes possessing desirable popping quality attributes.

Qualidade e segurança de vegetais minimamente processados: proposta de estruturas de governança entre os agentes da cadeia e os sinais da qualidade

A adequada gestão da qualidade e da segurança dos alimentos é essencial para o alcance de vantagens competitivas para as empresas de processamento mínimo de vegetais. Para essa gestão, são necessários controles preventivos, específicos e sistemáticos durante as etapas de produção dos alimentos para que os produtos atinjam os atributos desejados de qualidade. A cadeia de vegetais minimamente processados (VMP) é composta de produtores rurais, empresa processadora, transportadores de produtos finais e empresas varejistas e mercado institucional. Nesta cadeia, as transações entre seus agentes, apesar da alta frequência, são caracterizadas por grande assimetria de informações e diferenças nas especificidades dos ativos destes agentes, promovendo a possibilidade de ações oportunistas entre eles, principalmente nas relações entre produtores rurais e empresa processadora. Isto gera impactos negativos para a qualidade e a segurança do produto final e, como consequência, pode promover a seleção adversa pelo mercado consumidor e risco moral para as empresas processadoras. O objetivo deste trabalho foi definir e propor as estruturas de governança, entre os agentes desta cadeia, que minimizem os impactos negativos para a qualidade e segurança dos VMP, a partir da análise das especificidades do ativo entre estes agentes e dos atributos das transações. Adotou-se como método de pesquisa o estudo de casos múltiplos compreendendo 18 unidades de análise em duas cadeias de VMP localizadas nos estados de São Paulo e do Rio de Janeiro. Verificou-se que a empresa processadora lidera as transações entre os agentes em função da alta especificidade do seu ativo, em detrimento dos demais agentes. Propõem-se as estruturas de governança híbrida e hierárquica entre esses agentes, cujas formas de contratação dependem do agente e do tipo de matéria-prima transacionado.

The use of glutamine synthetase as a selection marker: recent advances in Chinese hamster ovary cell line generation processes

Central to the needs of the biopharmaceutical industry to support the development of innovative biologics and biosimilars are more effective and efficient manufacturing processes which require highly productive cell lines with desired quality attributes. New designs of molecules such as antibody humanization have greatly reduced immunogenicity concerns, and advances in cell culture technology including media optimization and process control have driven monoclonal antibody productivities in excess of 10 g/l with peak cell densities in bioreactors climbing to over 35 million per ml. However, over this same timeframe, the fundamental processes utilized for cell line generation have not changed significantly, especially in the selection step for top-producing clonal cell lines. Cell line generation continues to be time consuming and labor intensive and has become the timeline limiting step for the majority of the industry. In order to meet the ‘Fast-to-Proof-of-Principle’ strategy, multiple efforts including ...

Application of Quality by Design Concepts in the Development of Fluidized Bed Granulation and Tableting Processes

This study illustrates the application of experimental design and multivariate data analysis in defining design space for granulation and tableting processes. According to the quality by design concepts, critical quality attributes (CQAs) of granules and tablets, as well as critical parameters of granulation and tableting processes, were identified and evaluated. Acetaminophen was used as the model drug, and one of the study aims was to investigate the possibility of the development of immediate- or extended-release acetaminophen tablets. Granulation experiments were performed in the fluid bed processor using polyethylene oxide polymer as a binder in the direct granulation method. Tablets were compressed in the laboratory excenter tablet press. The first set of experiments was organized according to Plackett-Burman design, followed by the full factorial experimental design. Principal component analysis and partial least squares regression were applied as the multivariate analysis techniques. By using these different methods, CQAs and process parameters were identified and quantified. Furthermore, an in-line method was developed to monitor the temperature during the fluidized bed granulation process, to foresee possible defects in granules CQAs. Various control strategies that are based on the process understanding and assure desired quality attributes of the product are proposed.

Textural quality and oxidative stability of restructured pangasius mince: effect of protein substrates mediated by transglutaminase

In order to utilize abundantly available and low cost Pangasius (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) fish, its mince was evaluated for production of restructured fish products (RFPs) mediated by microbial transglutaminase (MTGase). The effect of sodium caseinate (1 %) and egg white (2 %) as additional protein substrates for MTGase (0.5 %) was examined in restructuring process by two different setting methods (cold setting and hot setting). The products were made by adding salt, protein substrates and enzyme in eight different combinations for each setting and stored at 4 °C for 11 days. The quality of resulting RFPs was evaluated by analyzing their textural profile, colour attributes, oxidative stability and expressible water content on both initial and final days of the storage period. The increased hardness and better water holding capacity were observed in the samples prepared by hot setting process. In combination with MTGase, sodium caseinate and egg white showed synergistic effect in RFPs resulting in improved physico-chemical properties in both the settings. Further, MTGase, which was believed to have a pro-oxidant effect, showed a protective effect against lipid oxidation in this study. These results clearly demonstrated the possibility of converting low cost Pangasius mince into value added restructured fish products with the desirable quality attributes.

Statistical modeling, optimization and characterization of spray-dried solid self-microemulsifying drug delivery system using design of experiments

The present study systematically and simultaneously investigates the influence of process variables of spray-drying on the properties of solid self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) using design of experiment (DOE) and optimizes them in order to produce solid-SMEDDS satisfying pre-defined powder quality attributes. Flurbiprofen-loaded liquid-SMEDDS was dispersed in dextran and spray-dried. After preliminary screening, the independent factors selected according to three-factor, three-level Box-Behnken design were inlet temperature (X(1)), feed rate (X(2)) and carrier concentration (X(3)). The responses used to compute the effects of independent factors were moisture content (Y(1)), yield (Y(2)), drug content (Y(3)) and droplet size (Y(4)) of the micro-emulsion. SMEDDS powder characteristics such as morphology, thermal behavior, crystallinity and flowability were also considered. Models were developed and model fitting analysis showed an adequate fit for all responses, indicating good predictability. Significant effects of processing parameters on powder characteristics were observed. The spray-drying process parameters were optimized as inlet temperature (134°C), feed rate (5%) and carrier concentration (0.6%) to produce solid-SMEDDS with acceptable moisture content (0.72±0.02%), yield (58.5±2.9%), drug content (70.1±2.7 mg/g) and droplet size (166.8±13.8 nm). Validation of the optimization process in five batches showed experimental value very close to the predicted one, ensuring the reproducibility of the developed models. Furthermore, optimized parameters resulted a highly crystalline flurbiprofen changed to an amorphous form. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the applicability of the DOE approach for optimizing the process parameters to manufacture solid-SMEDDS with desired quality attributes.

A Survey of Synergistic Relationships For Designing Architecture: Scenarios, Quality Attributes,Patterns, Decisions, Reasoning Framework

Abstract - Software Architectures are generally designed with particular functional and nonfunctional requirements. Organizations often need to choose Software Architecture for future development from several contending candidate architectures. Several methods have been proposed to design, analyze, selecting architectures with respect to hoped quality attributes to identify their restrictions. Most of these methods encourage the use of architectural patterns to develop architectures with known characteristics and apply scenarios to evaluate those architectures for desired quality attributes (e.g., reliability, modifiability). In case of Architecting a complex design activity, it involves making decisions about a number of inter-dependent design choices that relate to a range of design concerns. Each decision requires selecting among a number of alternatives; each of which impacts differently on various quality attributes (e.g., real-time, reliability, and performance). This paper discusses a selection framework based on multiattribute decision making using Hypothetical Equivalents, Architectural Information in a format that can support design decisions, ArchDesigner as a taxonomic approach along with GB case study and a Reasoning Framework which is encapsulation mechanism, can be used by nonexperts to examine a specific quality (e.g., performance, modifiability, availability) of a system.

Organizational Characteristics and Desired Quality Attributes of Enterprise Systems

Organizational Characteristics and Desired Quality Attributes of Enterprise Systems

Sourcing strategies in the Italian coffee industry

While the socio-economics of the coffee industry has received much attention, this article presents a novel analysis of B2B relationships in order to understand what determines coffee roasters' sourcing strategies. The theoretical framework is based on new institutional economics and relational contracting. The methodology is qualitative and uses a multiple-case approach. The evidence shows that different modes of transactions are devised in order to cope with the business uncertainty and to guarantee supplies of the coffee with the desired quality attributes. Traders offer to roasters guarantees that growers and exporters cannot provide. Relational components in transactions are essential to reduce uncertainty and transaction costs, and are important coordination mechanisms in trader-roaster linkages and even more so in the exporter-roaster interface. Roasters devise stronger coordination mechanisms with suppliers when the quality reputation of the core product is critical in their business strategy.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN QUALITY CUES AND QUALITY ATTRIBUTES IN THE PURCHASE OF FRESH PRODUCE BY MALAYSIAN CONSUMERS

Consumers’ preferences and the decision to purchase fresh produce from a retail store are based on a variety of quality cues. In the quality perception process, quality cues are associated with desired quality attributes (values). Malaysian consumers in the Klang Valley most often associate the appearance of the fresh produce (freshness, colour and firmness) with good taste. Fresh fruit and vegetables without any chemical residues, freedom from pests and diseases, and the origin of the produce were suggested as having a strong correlation with food safety and a beneficial impact on the environment and worker welfare. However, the quality cues utilised by consumers to associate fresh fruit and vegetables that taste good, that are safe, and produced in a way that is good for the environment and worker welfare varies significantly between each desired value.

Vacuum Frying as a Route to Produce Novel Snacks with Desired Quality Attributes According to New Health Trends

Consumers look for products that contribute to their wellness and health, however, even health-conscious consumers are not willing to sacrifice organoleptic properties, and intense full-flavor snacks remain an important trend. The objective of this study was to examine most important quality parameters of vacuum (1.92 inHg) and atmospheric-fried carrot, potato, and apple slices to determine specific advantages of vacuum technology. Slices were fried using equivalent thermal driving forces, maintaining a constant difference between oil temperature and the boiling point of water at the working pressure (ΔT = 60 and 80 °C). This resulted in frying temperatures of 160 and 180 °C, and 98 and 118 °C, for atmospheric and vacuum frying, respectively. Vacuum-fried carrot and potato chips absorbed about 50% less oil than atmospheric-fried chips, whereas vacuum-fried apple chips reduced oil absorption by 25%. Total carotenoids and ascorbic acid (AA) were greatly preserved during vacuum frying. Carrot chips vacuum fried at 98 °C retained about 90% of total carotenoids, whereas potato and apple slices vacuum fried at 98 °C, preserved around 95% of their initial AA content. Interestingly, results showed that the antioxidant capacity of chips may be related to both the presence of natural antioxidants and brown pigments developed at elevated temperatures. A way to reduce detrimental effects of deep-fat frying is through operating-pressure reduction, the essence behind vacuum deep-fat frying. In this way, it is possible to remove product moisture at a low temperature in a low-oxygen environment. The objective of this research was to study the effect of oil temperature reduction when vacuum frying traditional (potatoes) and nontraditional products (carrots and apples) on most important quality attributes (vitamins, color, and oil uptake). Results are promising and show that vacuum frying can be an alternative to produce nutritious and novel snacks with desired quality attributes, since vitamins and color were greatly preserved and oil absorption could be substantially reduced.

Color, Flavor, Texture, and Nutritional Quality of Fresh-Cut Fruits and Vegetables: Desirable Levels, Instrumental and Sensory Measurement, and the Effects of Processing

The color, flavor, texture, and the nutritional value of fresh-cut fruit and vegetable products are factors critical to consumer acceptance and the success of these products. In this chapter, desirable and undesirable quality attributes of fresh-cut fruit and vegetable products are reviewed. Both instrumental and sensory measurements for determining these critical quality attributes are discussed. The advantages and disadvantages of sensory and instrumental quality measurements are described. A review of typical unit operations involved in the production of fresh-cut products is presented. The effects of fresh-cut processing techniques and treatments on sensory quality, including the appearance, texture, flavor (taste and aroma) of vegetables, and fruits are detailed.

Validation Aspects of Water Treatment Systems for Pharmaceutical Products

The goal of conducting validation is to demonstrate that a process, when operated within established limits, produces a product of consistent and specified quality with a high degree of assurance. Validation of water treatment systems is necessary to obtain water with all desired quality attributes. This also provides a framework to establish a total control over the process which monitors safety, efficacy and ultimately, the process outcomes. The present overview is an attempt to discuss various aspects of validation including different approaches, components of water treatment systems, equipment qualifications, phases of performance testing, documentation and post-validation monitoring.Keywords: Validation; Water treatment systems; Quality attributes; Pharmaceutical products

Spray-drying process optimization for manufacture of drug–cyclodextrin complex powder using design of experiments

Background: Design of experiments (DOE), a component of Quality by Design, is systematic and simultaneous evaluation of variables (process or formulation) to develop a product with predetermined quality attributes. This study presents a case study to understand the effects of process variables in a spray-drying process used in the manufacture of drug-cyclodextrin complex for a drug that is prone to chemical instability at elevated temperature conditions encountered during processing. Methods: Experiments were designed, and data were collected according to a three-factor, three-level face-centered central composite design. The factors investigated were inlet temperature, spray rate, and batch size. Responses analyzed for computing the interaction effects were drug content, impurities, moisture content, and process yield. The spray-drying process conditions were optimized using DOE to maximize production yields while minimizing moisture content and drug-related impurities. Process validation batches were executed using the optimum process conditions obtained from software Design-Expert® to evaluate both the repeatability and reproducibility of spray-drying technique. Results: Optimization of process variables using DOE resulted in a significant improvement of process yields, above 90% and moisture content below 6% (w/w). The impurities were controlled within acceptable limits. The desirability function used to optimize the response variables and observed responses were in agreement with experimental values. These results demonstrated the reliability of selected model for manufacture of powder complex with predictable quality attributes. Conclusion: The study indicates the general applicability of DOE approach to optimize critical process parameters in the manufacture of drug product with desired quality attributes.

Consumer acceptance of broiler breast fillets marinated with varying levels of salt

Marination is an increasingly popular trend in the meat industry for meat quality enhancement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects different levels of salt in marinated poultry breast meat on consumer acceptance. A total of 100 broiler carcasses were deboned at 5 h postmortem, and breast fillets were marinated with 1 of 4 concentrations of salt: 0.5, 0.75, 1, and 1.25%. All marinated treatments had 0.45% phosphate concentration. A nonmarinated control was also included. Sensory evaluations of left fillets for moistness, texture, tenderness, saltiness, flavor, and overall impression were obtained on all treatments using hedonic and just about right (JAR) scales. Instrumental tenderness analysis was conducted on right fillets using Meullenet-Owens Razor Shear analysis methods. Hedonic data showed no significant difference in the marinated products (0.5 to 1.25% salt) for overall impression, flavor, and texture. However, according to the JAR scale, as the percentage of salt in the formulation increased (0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25%), the percentage of consumers who considered the product as not salty enough generally decreased. The products with the greater concentrations of salt (1.0 and 1.25%) resulted in high percentages of consumers who considered the product too salty. For juiciness and tenderness, a large percentage (>70%) of the consumers considered 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0% treatments to be JAR. Greater than 20% of consumers considered fillets marinated with 1% or greater salt concentration as too salty. Fillets marinated with lower levels of salt (0.5 and 0.75%) were considered JAR for saltiness by most consumers, whereas very few consumers considered the fillets to be too salty. Using instrumental tenderness analysis, salt concentrations above 1.0% were more tender than other treatments; however, all marinated treatments were significantly more tender than nonmarinated controls. These results suggest that using low salt concentrations, 0.5 to 0.75%, is appropriate for marination of postrigor broiler breast meat to obtain desirable quality attributes.

Crop Rotation and Soil Amendment Alters Sorghum Grain Quality

ABSTRACTSoybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation enhances grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] yield, but influence on grain quality has not been measured. The objective was to determine the effect of cropping sequence (CS) and soil amendment (SA) on grain yield and quality. Sorghum grain yield and quality, soil NO3–N and water were measured in a rotation study in 2003 and 2004 on a Sharpsburg silty clay loam (fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Argiudoll). Cropping sequences were continuous sorghum, and sorghum rotated with non‐nodulating and nodulating soybean. Soil amendments consisted of no amendment, manure (17–26 Mg dry matter ha−1 yr−1), and N (84 kg ha−1 yr−1). CS × SA interaction effects were found for most parameters. Rotation with non‐nodulating soybean without SA increased yield by 2.6 to 2.8 Mg ha−1 over continuous sorghum without SA. Rotation without SA with nodulating soybean further increased yield by 1.7 to 1.8 Mg ha−1 over rotation with non‐nodulating soybean. Grain N increased by 0.5 to 1.0, 2.5 to 5.0, and 3.3 to 4.9 g kg−1 for N application to continuous sorghum and sorghum rotated with non‐nodulating and nodulating soybean, respectively. Tangential abrasive dehulling device (TADD) removal indicated that continuous sorghum without SA produced the softest grain with 43 to 44% TADD removal, and sorghum rotated with nodulating soybean with manure produced the hardest grain with 22 to 27% TADD removal. As food end‐use opportunities for sorghum grain evolve, use of crop rotation and SA application will be important to produce grain with desirable quality attributes.

TEXTURAL PROFILE ANALYSIS OF SUNFLOWER–SESAME KERNEL CONFECTION (CHIKKI)

ABSTRACT Models capable of predicting textural quality of sunflower–sesame kernel confection (chikki) have been developed using response surface methodology. The model can be used to determine the effect of sunflower–sesame kernel proportions on texture profile analysis (TPA) parameters of the product. The quality attributes measured were hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, chewiness and resilience, whose values varied from 100–183 N, 1.01–2.82, 1.00–1.18, 21.7–495.1 N and 0.297–0.436, respectively. The highest values of hardness, chewiness and resilience were attained for the snacks prepared using jaggery (brown sugar) : sunflower kernel : sesame kernel in the ratio of 50:35:25. The highest values of cohesiveness and springiness were observed with 50:25:15 (jaggery : sunflower : sesame) proportions. The sensory term overall acceptability of the snacks is significantly correlated with instrumental cohesiveness, springiness and chewiness, which are the desired quality attributes of the snacks.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSPopularizing sunflower kernel in the diet can help combat protein–calorie malnutrition in children to a certain extent in developing countries. This research may provide an opportunity to consider sunflower kernel as an ingredient in new products by manufacturers of baked goods and snack foods. The objective of the study was to quantify characteristics of textural profile of sunflower–sesame kernel chikki prepared using various proportions of sunflower and sesame kernels. Models developed using response surface methodology for predicting the textural quality of snacks can be used to determine the effect of sunflower–sesame kernel proportions on texture profile analysis parameters of the product. The confection (chikki) prepared taking jaggery, sunflower and sesame kernels as ingredients is an organoleptically accepted product.