RIMAS (Artocarpus altilis Fosb, Family:Moraceae)

AS SOURCE OF STARCH IN MAKING BREADS, SWEETS AND PASTRIES ROMULO H. MALVAR, PH.D. SUC President II & College Professor Marinduque State College

MERCEDITA M. HERMOSA NENITA O. GONZALES CARLO M. CASTRO

Breadfruit or locally known as Rimas is one of the widely distributed fruit-bearing trees in Marinduque, 3 which during lean seasons serve as source of carbohydrates among households in the interior and coastal areas of the province. The mature fruits are generally boiled and mixed with sugar and some are chopped and boiled as food for hogs.

Rimas is considered as one of the potential sources of starch, due to its big fruits, thus research was done to extract its starch and use it as substitute to the imported wheat flour in making bakery products, like bread, sweets and pastries. It was done at various proportions with commercial flour up to 100% substitution.

Mature Rimas fruits were gathered from the trees found in Boac Campus and the extraction, processing and baking of the starch were done in the Food Technology Laboratory of the College. The extracted starch were made into waffle bread, cupcakes, cookies, muffins, leche flan, panganan and polvoron at different proportions with commercial flour, such as 25% commercial flour and 75% Rimas starch, 50% each, 75% flour and 25% starch and 100% Rimas starch. The control was 100% commercial flour. All preparations were made with three replications.

Sensory evaluation of the prepared products was done using a 9-point Hedonic scale in terms of their appearance, texture, taste and flavor. The products were evaluated by Food Technology teachers, students, faculty members and operators of bakeries. Results of the study showed that an acceptability level of up to 100% substitution can be made depending on the bakery products that the Rimas starch is applied. For bread, like cupcakes, at least 50% substitution and for sweets, like polvoron at least 75% substitution was found acceptable.

In succeeding product development using 50% substitution, waffle and muffins exhibited highly acceptable ratings, while leche flan was rated acceptable. Panganan, a native delicacy in Marinduque made from rice flour, had acceptable ratings when prepared from a combination of 50% Rimas starch and 50% rice flour. A 100% starch for making cookies had acceptable to highly acceptable ratings.

In general, Rimas starch could substitute 50 - 100% of the imported wheat flour for bread, sweets and pastries making, which can be helpful in lessening our dependency on imported flour.

Key Words: Artocarpus altilis, bakery products, breadfruit, commercial flour, Marinduque, Moraceae, panganan, Rimas.

Marinduque State College’s initiative in developing Filipino bread from breadfruit flour is in respond to the recent increase in the price of flour. The breadfruit or rimas (Artocarpus altilis) is currently underutilized in the country and seemingly it is a neglected commodity despite the enormous food uses as reported in many literatures. It is a potential source of flour to substitute in part the imported wheat flour needed in bread making.

Its flour is very nutritious and richer than wheat flour (Dutta, 2006). Mixing it with wheat flour was found more nutritious than wheat flour alone. The breadfruit flour is much richer in lysine and other essential amino acids than wheat flour (Morton, 1987). Bread, cake pudding and other products were tried by Arcelay and Graham (1984) using mixtures in which wheat flour was substituted by breadfruit flour at levels ranging from 7 to 75% depending on the products.

Sensory evaluation of these products showed that they were well accepted by members of the taste panel. However, Esuoso and Bamiro (1995) revealed that there was no significant difference on the sensory evaluation at P<0.05 between the 100% wheat flour and the composite bread samples up to 30% level of breadfruit flour. In addition, Olaoye and Onilude (2007) reported that breads of acceptable sensory attributes could be produced with up to 15% breadfruit flour level and concluded that the nutritional quality of bread could be enhanced by breadfruit flour supplementation, especially in terms of ash and fiber.

As such, the general objective of this endeavor is aimed at processing breadfruit into flour and examining its performance in bakery products preparation. Specifically, the study intends to: 1. Test different proportions of breadfruit flour and wheat flour for making different bakery products and 2. Evaluate the sensory attributes of the different products

The breadfruits used in this study were harvested from the two trees inside the campus of MSC in Boac. After harvesting, the fruits were taken to the food laboratory of the School of Industrial Technology of MSC for processing.

PREPARATION OF BREADFRUIT FLOUR To remove any dirt and unwanted materials, the fruits were washed thoroughly and then peeled and washed again. After peeling, the fruit were sliced into around two millimeter in thickness chips.

PREPARATION OF BREADFRUIT FLOUR The chips were either immediately blanched for around three to five minutes or soaked in sodium metabisulfite solution (15 g/1.5 L of water) for 30 minutes.

PREPARATION OF BREADFRUIT FLOUR Then, the chips were dried in the Multi-Commodity Solar Tunnel Dryer (MCSTD) from the Philippine Center for Postharvest and Mechanization (PHILMECH), formerly, the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE) or under direct sunlight. The dried chips were milled using a France-made Moulinette S Moulinex Type 643 grinder/food processor after which sieving was done using a 0.25 mm mesh (wire mesh or cheese cloth or muslin cloth).

PREPARATION OF THE PRODUCT The following treatment combinations using the breadfruit flour (BF) and wheat flour (WF) or as it is known in the market as “all purpose flour” were tried in the preparation of cupcakes and polvoron:

0 WF + 100% BF, 25% WF + 75%BF, 50% WF + 50% BF, 75% WF + 25% BF, and 100 WF + 0 BF

After the trials, 50% WF + 50% BF was used in succeeding trials for other bakery products such as cupcake, waffle, muffins, leche flan and panganan. Polvoron and cookies were tried from 100% BF. The sensory attributes, including flavor, aroma, color, and consistency/texture were evaluated by a trained 10member panel using a 9-point Hedonic scale with one representing the least score (extremely dislike) and nine the highest score (extremely like). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the data to determine the differences while Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT) was used to detect significant differences among the means of the sensory data. .

Standard recipes for preparing the different products such as cupcake, polvoron, waffle, cookies, muffins, leche flan and panganan are followed. Data estimates for the cost and returns were noted for the analysis of profitability indicators of the products.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Preparation of Breadfruit Flour Mature fruits were peeled and the pulp cut into chips. Then the chips were either blanched in water for 3 – 5 minutes or soaked in a sodium metabisulfite solution and then dried in the PhilMech MCSTD or directly under sunlight. The chips which were blanched in water and then dried produced inferior quality flour as compared to those soaked in sodium metabisulfite. This is because the former treatment produced sticky, dirty white flour and with characteristic odor or smell while the ones treated with sodium metabisulfite were whitish and no characteristic smell or odor.

In terms of drying time, drying was completed in six hours using the PhilMech dryer as compared to eight hours plus 40 minutes under sunlight. Flour recovery was estimated at 21.86% and 15 % when using the PhilMech dryer and under direct sunlight, respectively. These estimates were based from the weight of unpeeled fresh fruits.

Figure 1. Schematic diagram for breadfruit flour preparation.

Bakery Products CUPCAKE. Table 1 shows the rating on the general acceptability of breadfruit cupcake. The data indicate that as the amount of breadfruit flour is increased to substitute the wheat flour in cupcake preparation, there is also a corresponding numerical increase in the average of the four acceptability criteria such as flavor, aroma, color and consistency. However, substituting the wheat flour with breadfruit flour up to 50% is judged by the panelist as “moderately like” in the scale compared to higher amount of substitution. Beyond 50% breadfruit flour in the mixture, the general acceptability became “slightly like”. At 75 – 100% BF, the distinct taste of the breadfruit is already very pronounced.

In addition, cupcakes produced from 50% BF and lower level of substitution gave a light yellow product similar to the 100% WF product. Above the 50% BF substitution, the cupcakes produced were darker in color. Arcelay and Graham (1984) found out from cake prepared from different amount of substituting wheat flour with breadfruit flour in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico that 33% BF gave a light yellow product similar to the control, and at 50 - 60%, the color became light brown due to the presence of more carbohydrates. A porous and spongy cake resulted as the amount of BF increased.

Table 1. Rating on the general acceptability of breadfruit cupcake.

* Based on average responses of 8 evaluators using the 9-point Hedonic Scale: 1- Like extremely, 2- Like very much; 3- Like moderately; 4- Like slightly; 5- Neither like nor dislike; 6- Dislike slightly; 7- Dislike moderately; 8- Dislike very much; 9 – Dislike extremely

POLVORON. Breadfruit flour as a substitute for wheat flour in the preparation of polvoron exhibited acceptable ratings in terms of flavor, aroma, color, and texture from the evaluation panel. Generally, all acceptability criteria showed increase in the numerical values as the BF substitution to WF is increased. Substituting 25 – 75% WF with BF was judged by the panel to have “like moderately” result which is similar with the result of the 100% WF polvoron. On the other hand, 100% BF for polvoron resulted to “like slightly” rating. This may be attributed to flavor and aroma as many of the panel members remarked that the distinct taste of breadfruit is very pronounce at 100% BF.

Table 2. Rating on the general acceptability of breadfruit polvoron. Proportion of General Acceptability Criteria Breadfruit Flavor Aroma Color Texture flour to all purpose flour

Mean

Descriptive Rating

0 : 100

2.89

2.67

2.56

2.33

2.61

Moderately Like

25 : 75

3.00

2.89

2.78

3.33

3.00

Moderately Like

25 : 75

3.00

2.89

2.78

3.33

3.00

Moderately Like

50 : 50

3.11

3.11

3.22

3.22

3.17

Moderately Like

75 : 25

3.00

2.78

2.67

3.11

2.89

Moderately Like

100 : 0

4.22

3.89

3.33

3.67

3.78

Slightly Like

* Based on average responses of 8 evaluators using the 9-point Hedonic Scale: 1- Like extremely, 2- Like very much; 3- Like moderately; 4- Like slightly; 5- Neither like nor dislike; 6- Dislike slightly; 7- Dislike moderately; 8- Dislike very much; 9 – Dislike extremely

Costs and Returns Cost estimates for flour production were based from 15 sample fruits which were processed into flour following the procedure as described in the methodology. Out 15 kg of fruits (15 pcs), 2,200 g of flour was recovered indicating a 15% recovery rate. Labor cost was estimated at Php 168.72, gas at P8.00 and electricity of Php 30.00 (P5.00/hr). The total cost of producing the flour is Php 281.72 or Php 128.05/kg. This serves as the reference point in pricing the flour.

In making cupcakes or muffins with 1.75 cups (240.63g) of breadfruit flour mixed with the same amount of all purpose flour to produce 53 pcs of the cakes, the total direct cost was estimated at Php 183.63 for all ingredient materials, gas, electricity and labor cost. At a price of Php 6.00/pc of the cupcakes, a total gross return of Php 318.00 and deducting the total costs would give a net returns of Php 134.37.

For the preparation of polvoron involving 2¼ cups (309.38 g) of breadfruit flour mixed with the same amount of all purpose flour to produce 110 pcs of polvoron entailed a total cost of Php 169.83. This amount covered the cost of ingredient materials, labor, gas and electricity. Multiplying a Php 2.00 price of a piece of polvoron with 110 pcs of produce gave a gross return of Php 220.00 and a net return of Php 50.17.

Other Test Products. Four more products were prepared from a 50% BF plus 50% WF namely waffle, muffins leche flan and panganan. The cookies were prepared from a 100% BF. The results of the sensory evaluation is shown in Table 3. All acceptability criteria ratings for the different products indicated at least 4 in numerical values, meaning the products are “acceptable” up to “highly acceptable” by the taste panel. BF seems to be best for the preparation of muffins since the rating on all criteria were all highly acceptable.

Table 3. General acceptability ratings of other products.

Bread Pastries Sweets Acceptability Waffle Cookies Muffins Leche Panga Criteria (100%) Flan nan Appearance 4.68 4.50 5.00 4.33 4.37 Texture

4.68

4.75

5.00

3.75

4.37

Taste

4.63

4.50

5.00

3.75

4.12

Flavor

4.36

4.50

5.00

3.67

4.18

Mean

4.59

4.56

5.00

3.88

4.26

Note: 1 – very unacceptable, 2 – unacceptable, 3 – either acceptable or unacceptable, 4 – acceptable, 5 – highly acceptable.