Quality assessment of microencapsulated DHA fortified nutritional supplement

Abstract

Microencapsulated omega-3 poly unsaturated fatty acids have immense potential for food applications. A nutritional supplement based on low cost ingredients including wheat flour, soy flour, gram flour, ground nut and cashew nut was prepared. Encapsulated Docosa Hexaenoic Acid (DHA) powder containing 7 per cent DHA was added to the nutritional mix at 2 per cent level and vacuum packed. This product is intended for the use of infants above 6 months. Fatty acid profiling of the nutritional mix indicated 2.87 per cent linoleic acid, 0.82 per cent EPA and 2.05 per cent DHA in the sample. Amino acid profiling indicated the presence of aspartate, glutamate, leucine, arginine and proline in major proportions. Sensory quality and oxidative stability of the product with and without the presence of 1 per cent ascorbic acid was evaluated over a period of 12 months storage at ambient temperature. Both the samples were in acceptable condition over the entire storage period. Slight fishy odor was noticed in the ascorbic acid incorporated samples at the end of 12 months storage. Lipid oxidation as assessed by Thio barbituric acid reactive substances did not exceed the acceptable limit of 2 in both the sample during the entire 1 year storage period. Similarly, Aerobic Plate Count also remained in the lower levels where control and AA added samples had 3.65 and 3.44 log 10 cfu per gram, respectively at the end of 1 year. The results indicate that the nutritional supplement containing encapsulated DHA retained its quality under vacuum packed conditions for 1 year, and it can be used a supplement to infants.