ABSTRACT
This study evaluated the effect of packaging materials and storage conditions on stability of three indigenous soups of South South Nigeria. The soups namely Afang, Edikang Ikong and Afere Ndek Iyak soups were packaged in Plastic, Polyethyelene bags and Aluminum pouches and stored at ambient, refrigeration and freezing condition for five months. Soups were evaluated for quality changes monthly. Response Surface methodology was used to evaluate the performance of the packaging materials, the storage temperature and the soups. Some of the quality indices evaluated were the proximate composition, the vitamins and mineral elements. Others were the free fatty acids, thiobabituric acid, total soluble solids and microbial analysis. The soups in freezing and refrigeration storage were analysed monthly while those in ambient storage were analysed daily. The soups stored at ambient temperature had microbial counts beyond acceptable limits (105cfu/g) after 24 hours, irrespective of whether it was packaged in plastic, polyethylene bag or aluminum pouch. The soups stored in refrigeration condition had significant (p< 0.05) microbial and chemical deterioration after two months storage and were discarded, while those in the Freezing storage lasted five months. The proximate composition of the soup showed that: Protein ranged from 4.32 to 5.77%, Fat 4.30 to 10.86%, Ash- 2.33 to 2.88, Moisture- 76.26 to 82.07%. The micronutrient composition of the soups was: Iron – 0.6 to 0.87 mg/100g, Calcium- 170.88 to 186.94mg, Vitamin B1- 0.26 to 0.77mg/100g, Vitamin C- 16.39 to 29.29 mg/100g. The physicochemical properties of the soup were thus: Free Fatty Acid- 1.29 to 2.55%; Thiobiaturic Acid- 0.032 to 0.046%, Peroxide value- 1.785 to 2.880 mg/kg, pH- 6.33 to 6.69, Total Soluble Solids- 2.795 to 3.570%. The microbial properties indicated that Total Fungal Count (TFC) ranged from 1.75 x 103 to 6.0 x 103cfu/ml while Total Viable Count (TVC) ranged from 8.35 x 103 to 14.95 x 103cfu/ml. The shelf life was studied using physicochemical properties, all the soups had similar trend after storage for five months but optimization using Response Surface Methodology showed that Afere Ndek Iyak, Polyethylene bag and Freezing was the best.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGES
Title
Page i
Title
Page ii
Declaration iii
Certification iv
Dedication v
Acknowledgements vi
Table
of contents vii
List
of Table xv
List
of Figures xvii
Abstract xviii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study 1
1.2 Statement of Problem 4
1.3 Justification of the Study 7
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study 8
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE
REVIEW
2.1 Soup: Meaning, Types And Use 9
2.2 Soups of Various Tribes And Ethnic Groups
Of Nigeria 10
2.3
Indigenous Soups of South South
Nigeria 12
2.4 Traditional
Methods of Storing and Preserving Soups in South South Nigeria 13
2.5 Keeping
Quality of Soups 14
2.6 Types
Of Soup Spoilage 15
2.7 Types and Characteristic Qualities of
Different Packaging Materials 16
2.7.1 Tinplate 16
2.7.2 Aluminum 18
2.7.3 Glasses and
pouches 19
2.7.4 Packaging with
nylon 20
2.7.5
Papers, woods and other African
indigenous forms of food packaging
and preservation 21
2.8 African Indigenous Forms of Food Packaging
And Preservation 21
2.8 .1 Refrigeration and freezing storage (low temperature storage) 23
2.8.2 Thermal (high
temperature- cooking, sterilization) processing 24
2.8.3 Use of
synthetic preservatives 26
2.9 Characteristics
of Packaging Materials (Pouches and Cans) 27
2.10 Food
Processed and Stored In Other Container In Ready To
Eat Form (RTE) 29
2.11 Storage Stability of Packaged Food
Nutrients as a Function of Time 30
2.12 Packaging Materials: Plastics, Pouches and
Nylon 30
2.13 Changes in the Physicochemical
Characteristics of Soups, Sauces and Stew 31
2.14 Microorganisms in Food (Soup) Spoilage 32
2.15 Effects of Freeze-Thaw Cycles on Soups
Sauces and Stew 34
2.16 How
Freezing Affects the Quality of Foods 34
2.16.1 Effect
of freezing 34
2.16.2 Factors affecting frozen food quality 35
2.16.3 Effect
of storage; the role of glass transition
35
2.17 Afang
Soup 36
2.18 Edikang
Ikong Soup
37
CHAPTER 3: MATERIALS AND
METHODS
3.1 Materials 38
3.2.
Preparation of Soups 38
3.2.1
Preparation of afang soup 38
3.2.2 Preparation of afere ndek iyak soup 40
3.2.3 Preparation of edikang ikong (vegetable soup) 43
3.3 Experimental Design And Data Analysis 45
3.4 Container
Examination 46
3.4.1 Visual
examination 46
3.4.2 Static
load burst test (compression test) 48
3.5 Proximate Analysis 49
3.5.1. Moisture determination 49
3.5.2 Determination of
fat 49
3.5.3 Determination of protein 50
3.5.4
Determination of crude fibre content 51
3.5.5 Determination of total ash content 52
3.5.6 Determination of carbohydrate 52
3.5.7 Determination of total solids 52
3.6 Mineral Analysis 52
3.7 Microbial
Analyses 53
3.7.1 Total viable count 53
3.7.2 Total fungal count 54
3.8 Shelf
Life Studies With Physicochemical Properties 54
3.8.1 Thiobarbituric
acid (tba) analysis 54
3.8.2 Free
fatty acid (ffa) analysis 55
3.8.3
Peroxide value 55
3.8.5 Determination of pH 56
3.8.6 Total soluble solids determination 56
3.8.8 Determination of viscosity 57
3.8.9 Determination of colour 57
3.9 Analysis
of Water Soluble Vitamins 57
CHAPTER
4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Proximate
Compositions of The Soup Samples 59
4.1.1 Moisture
content of the soup samples 59
4.1.2 Ash
content of the soup samples 62
4.1.3 Fat
content of the soup samples 63
4.1.4 Crude fibre content of the soup samples 64
4.1.5 Protein content of the soup samples 65
4.1.6 Carbohydrates content of the soup samples 66
4.2 Changes in Proximate Composition of
Individual Soups after 5 Months
of Storage 67
4.2.1 Proximate composition of afere ndek iyak soup
after storage 67
4.3 Proximate Composition of The Afang soup 70
4.4 Proximate Composition Of Edikang Ikong
Soup 74
4.5 Micronutrient Composition Of The Soups 77
4.5.1 Iron contents of the soups 77
4.5.2 Calcium composition of the soups 80
4.5.3 Thiamine contents of the soups 82
4.5.4 Ascorbic acid contents of the soups 83
4.6 Physicochemical Properties of the Soup Samples 84
4.6.1 Free fatty acid composition of the soup
samples 84
4.6.2 Viscosity of the soup samples 85
4.6.3 Thiobarbituric acid value of the soup samples 87
4.6.4 Peroxide value of the soup samples 88
4.6.5 pH values of the soup samples 89
4.6.6 Total soluble solids of the soup samples 89
4.6.7 Colour properties of the soup samples 90
4.7 Microbial Load of Produced Local Soup
Samples 91
4.7.1: Effects of storage on the microbial properties of the soup at
ambient temperature 91
4.7.2 Effects of refrigeration and freezing storage on total microbial
counts of local soups for months one, two and five 93
4.7.3 Effects
of refrigeration and freezing storage on total viable
counts of local soups 97
4.8 Shelf Life Study of The Soups 100
4.8.1 Effect of storage on the physicochemical
properties of the afang soup 100
4.8.2 Free fatty acids of afang soup 100
4.8.3 Thiobarbituric acid value of afang soup 102
4.8.4 pH value of afang soup 103
4.8.5 Viscosity value of the afang soup 104
4.8.6. Peroxide value of the Afang soup 105
4.9 Effect of Storage On The Vitamin And
Mineral Composition of The
Afang
Soup 105
4.9.1 Vitamin c composition of the afang soup 107
4.9.2 Vitamin b1 composition of the afang soup 107
4.9.3 Calcium composition of the afang soup 108
4.9.4 Iron composition of the afang soup 108
4.10 Effect of Storage On The Physicochemical
Properties Of The
Afere Ndek Iyak Soup 109
4.10.1 Free fatty acids of afere ndek iyak soup 109
4.10.2 Thiobarbituric acid value of afere ndek
iyak soup 112
4.10.3 The pH value of afere ndek iyak soup 113
4.10.4 Viscosity value of the afere ndek iyak soup 114
4.10.5 Peroxide value of the afere ndek iyak soup 114
4.11 Effect Of Storage On The Vitamin And
Mineral Composition Of The
Afere Ndek Iyak Soup
Soup 115
4.11.1 Vitamin C composition of the afere ndek
iyak soup 115
4.11.2 Vitamin B1 composition of the afere ndek
iyak soup 118
4.11.3 Calcium composition of the afere ndek iyak soup 118
4.11.4 Iron composition of the afere ndek iyak soup 119
4.12 Effect Of Storage On The Physicochemical
Properties Of The
Afere Ndek Iyak Soup 119
4.12.1 Free fatty acids of afere ndek iyak soup 119
4.12.2 Thiobarbituric acid value of edikang ikong soup 121
4.12.3 The pH value of edikang ikong soup 122
4.12.4 Viscosity value of the edikang ikong
soup 123
4.12.5 Peroxide value of the edikang ikong soup 124
4.13.1 Effect of storage on the vitamin and mineral
composition of the
edikang ikong soup 124
4.13.2 Vitamin c composition of the edikang ikong
soup 126
4.13.3 Vitamin b1 composition of the edikang ikong
soup 126
4.13.4 Calcium composition of the edikang ikong soup 127
4.13.5 Iron composition of the edikang ikong soup 127
4.14. Response
Surface Analysis Of The Factors Affecting The Storage Of The Soups
For Afere Ndek
Iyak 128
4.15 Thiobarbituric
Acid Contents Of The Soups 129
4.16 The
Free Fatty Acid Contents Of the Soups 131
4.17 The
Peroxide Value of the Soups after Two Months Storage 134
4.18 The pH
Contents the Soups after Two Months Storage 137
4.19 The
Iron Contents the Soups after Two Months Storage 140
4.20: Optimization
of the Quality of the Soups Stored For Two Months 142
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Conclusion 144
5.2 Recommendations 145
References 147
Appendices 153
LIST OF TABLE
3.1: Recipe for Afang Soup (African Salad) 47
3.2: Recipe for Fisherman Soup 49
3.3 Ingredients for Edikang ikong (Vegetable soup) 51
3.4: Response
surface design coded variables for storage stability
evaluation of packaged indigenous soups 54
3.5: Actual
variable settings for response surface design for storage stability evaluation
of packaged indigenous soups 55
4.1: Proximate
Composition of Soup Sample 60
4.2: Proximate
compositions of Afere ndek iyak soup and its effect on
storage stability 68
4.3: Proximate
compositions of Afang soup and its effect on
storage stability 73
4.4: Proximate
compositions of Edikang ikong soup and its effect on
storage stability 76
4.5: Micronutrient Composition of the Soups 80
4.6: Physicochemical Properties of the Soup Samples 85
4.7:
Effect of storage on total
viable counts (X 108 CFU/mL) of local
soups stored at ambient temperature 92
4.8:
Effect of Storage on Total
fungal Counts (X 108 CFU/mL) of
local soups stored at ambient temperature 93
4.9: Effects
of refrigeration and freezing storage on total viable counts
(X 108Cfu/mL) of packaged local soups 96
4.10: Effects
of refrigeration and freezing storage on total fungal counts
(x 108cfu/mL) of packaged local soups 99
4.11: Effect of storage on the physicochemical
properties of
The Afang soup 101
4.12: Effect of storage on the vitamin and mineral
composition of the
Afang soup 106
4.13: Effect of Storage on the physicochemical properties of
Afere ndek iyak 111
4.14: Effect of storage on the vitamin and mineral
of the
Afere ndek iyak soup 117
4.15:
Effect of storage on the
physicochemical properties of the
Edikang ikong soup 120
4.16:
Effect of storage on the vitamin and
mineral of the
Edikang ikong soup 125
4.16.1: Table of
Coefficients for terms of response surface models
for quality properties of
packaged and stored local soups 128
4.17: ANOVA for Linear model for the thiobarbitituric acid (TBA)
concentration
in local soups packaged and stored for two month 129
4.18: Coefficients in Terms of Coded Factors model for the TBA
concentration in local soups packaged and stored for
two months 130
4.19: ANOVA for Linear model for the free fatty acid (FFA) concentration
in
local soup packaged and stored for two months
132
4.20: Coefficients in Terms of Coded Factors for linear model for the
FFA
concentration in local sops packaged and
stored for five months 133
4.21: ANOVA for Linear model for the peroxide value (PV) of
local
soups packaged and stored for two
months 135
4.22: Coefficients in Terms of Coded Factors for linear model for the
peroxide value of local soups packaged and stored for
five months 136
4.23: ANOVA for two factor interaction model for the pH of local soup
packaged and stored for two months 138
4.24: Coefficients in Terms of Coded Factors for two factor interaction
model for the pH of local soups packaged and stored
for five months 139
4.25: ANOVA
for linear model for the iron content of local soups packaged and stored for
two months 140
4.26: Coefficients in Terms of Coded Factors for linear model for the
iron
content of local soups packaged and stored for five
months 141
4.27: Constraints for the optimization of the quality of packaged local
soups
stored for two month 142
4.28:
Solutions from the optimization of the
quality of packaged local soups
stored
for two months 143
LIST OF FIGURES
TITLE PAGES
Figure 3.1: Flow chart for the preparation of packaged Afang soup (African salad)
(Faleti, 1999) 40
Figure
3.2: Flow chart for the preparation
of packaged Fisherman soup
(Afere ndek iyak) (Ana, 2000) 42
Figure
3.3: Flow chart for the preparation
of packaged Edikang ikong
(vegetable
soup) (Ana, 2000) 45
Figure
4.1: Response surface plot for
effect of soup type, packaging materials and
storage
condition on the TBA content of packaged soups 131
Figure
4.2: Response surface plot for
effect of soup type, packaging material and
storage
condition on the FFA content of packaged local soups 134
Figure
4.3: Response surface plot for
effect of soup type, packaging material and
storage
condition on the peroxide value of packaged and stored local
soups 136
Figure
4.4: Response surface plot for
effect of soup type and storage condition on
the
pH of packaged and stored local soups 139
Figure
4.5: Response surface plot for
effect of soup type, packaging material and
storage
condition on the iron content of packaged and stored local soup141
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Soups
which are basically liquid food composing of various types of lefy vegetables
and other constituents that are usually served with swallows play significant
part in the food culture of most West African countries. The utilization of
these leafy vegetables is a component of Africa’s cultural heritage, as they
play major part in the ordinance, traditions and food culture of most African
household (Sanusi and Olurin,
2012). Nigeria is richly blessed with varied types of traditional vegetables
which are used in various soup preparations and different types of soups are
eaten by the different ethnic groups for various reasons. The nutritious
compositions of the various varieties of leafy vegetables vary considerably and
unlike the starchy roots and tubers, which form the major portion of typical
African diets, they are not the considerable sources of carbohydrates. Rather,
they contain vitamins, required amino acids, as well as minerals and
antioxidants (Mnzava, 1997; Fasuyi, 2006).
Several
studies have shown that malnutrition can be tremendously reduced with an
increased use of soups and swallows rich in energy, proteins, iron and
vitamins, most especially those soups prepared from fresh vegetables from the
rural environment (Richard et al.,
2007). In order to have a healthy population that can promote development,
Atasie et al. (2009) posit that the
interrelation between food example soups and swallows, nutrition and health
should be reinforced. One way of achieving this is through the exploitation of
available local resources such as local indigenous vegetables, since human
population in Africa depends largely on a sizeable quantity of edible
indigenous vegetables to meet up with scarcity in minerals and vitamins (Achu et al., 2005).
The
interconnection between diet, food habits and micronutrient deficiency diseases
has necessitated investigations on the nutrient content of traditional soups
consumed in many regions of Nigeria (Obiakor–Okeke
et al., 2014). Therefore, the
quality of a population’s indigenous or traditional soups, being central in
their micronutrients supply force, is quintessential in achieving the desired
food security and nutritional adequacy (Sanusi and Olurin, 2012).
According
to study by Maduabum (2015), sustaining the availability and supply of these
staple soups in safe, nutritious, shelf-stable and ready-to-eat forms would be
important and helpful. Besides the soup spoilage due to poor packaging and
inadequate storage facilities, most methods of preparation and storage of these
traditional soups often lead to large loss of micro nutrients, thus creating a
deficiency risk of micro nutrient. Efforts have been directed towards the
research on the mineral contents of prepared (ready made) Nigerian soups
(Akindahunsi and Oboh, 1999; Elemo et al., 2010). However, their shelf
stabilities under common storage conditions have not been reported.
A major feature of the Nigerian food economy is the range of
vegetables cultivated. Nigeria is a
multi-cultural society with different traditional soups which are indigenous to
the different ethnic and cultural societies (Okeke et al., 2008). These soups are noted for
their unique combination of vegetables, spices and seasonings, although they
are mostly not hot and spicy. Normally, well-made Nigerian soups are carefully
balanced with proteins (fish, meat, shrimps and periwinkle), vitamins and
minerals (vegetables) to bring out all the different nutrients in a dish
(Faleti, 1999). Common soups in South-South Nigeria described by Faleti (1999) and
others include, Afang,
Editan, Melon (Afere ikon), Afia efere (white soup), Afere Ndek Iyak (Fisher man soup), Edikang Ikong (Vegetable soup), Ogbono (draw
soup) and Etidot (bitter leaf) soup.
Among the popular vegetables cultivated and used mainly in the preparatory
process of different types of soups in the South-East are, the fluted pumpkin (Ugu), Bitter leaf (Olugbu), Camwood leaf (Oha/Nturukpa),
Green (Inine), Okro (Okwuru), Vegetable jute (Ahihiara), Fever plant (Nchuanwu), African egg plant (Ofe/Anara), Water leaf (Mgbolodi) and the Elephant grass (Achara). The usage of these vegetables
in soup preparation varies among communities and regions (Iwuagwu, 1996, Okeke
et al., 2008).
Meanwhile,
the packaging of nutritious indigenous soups into convenient forms as started receiving some attentions in recent times with some food
vendors putting these indigenous soups in plastic plates termed ‘take away’,
although it is mostly viewed as simply being marketing strategies by the
vendors. Canning or packaging of indigenous South South Nigerian soups in
aluminium pouches or polyethylene bags has not been reported.
Although, canned foods constitute a considerable
portion of the modern diet. Some other commonly used packaging materials for
food and soup products are the rigid metal and glass containers. Pliable
packaging is a new innovation, with other technologies found to be better and
safer methods of preserving vegetables, meats, poultry and seafood (Fasuyi,
2006). Soups are rich in oils/fats and
foods containing fat are known to spoil by fat oxidation. Storage in low temperature
conditions (refrigeration and freezing), keeping out of sunlight and proper
oxygen barrier properties, has been recommended (Joseph, 2013). The use of mylar bags (pouches) with spouts, for
instance, where the container shrinks along with the stored product leaving
less room for oxygen has been recommended for non-solid foods such as oils.
Hence, application of these recommendations to soups in this study, where their
barrier and other properties may be expected to affect the soup’s keeping quality.
The nutritional characteristics of people in
developing Nations such as Nigeria seems to be experiencing a substle but
gradual change from vegetable dense, high fiber, less calorie, minimal protein
diets to low fiber, calorie dense, and high protein diets (Popkin, 2002;
Maduabum, 2015).
The influence of people’s occupation on their nutritional status and daily
diets are implicated in this. Maduabum (2015) observed that it is a common
practice for working class, especially workers in big, busy cities, such as
Lagos State, Nigeria, to leave their homes early daily in order to be able to
arrive at their places of work on time. As a result, most of these workers are
forced to either skip meals or eat what is available in and around their
workplaces. Findings on workers’ eating practices showed that a great
percentage of working class either skip breakfast and lunch, eat their
breakfast at work, carry breakfast in a food flask from home to work, buy food
from canteens within their workplace, buy food from fast food outlets, buy
snacks to eat as lunch, eat in between meals, and buy breakfast or lunch from
food vendors, among others (Eze et al.,
2017).
When many variables affect an outcome to be studied,
response surface methodology comes handy. RSM is an effective statistical
technique for optimizing experimental protocols. RSM evaluates the outcome of
multiple factors and their interactions on one or multiple response variables
(Azmir et al., 2014). The
optimization of those parameters influencing the quality of a product could be
achieved with response surface methodology (RSM). An advantage of Response
Surface Methodoloy is that, it decreases the number of experiments and provides
a mathematical model (Dongliang et al.,
2018).
1.2 STATEMENT
OF PROBLEM
As the food
industry continues to grow, food production also increases and this increase
must be sustainably managed. One such way of sustainably managing this increase
is by preservation. Several researches have been
performed on the mineral, vitamins, physicochemical and sensory properties of
the various local soups in Nigeria, but none of these studies examined the
delivery of Afang (Gnetum afrikanum)
soup, Edikang ikong (Vegetable soup), Afere ndek iyak (Fisherman soup) and Afia
efere (White Soup) in shelf stable, convenient forms, suitable for easy
distribution to other places (Brat and Hammond, 2010). Furthermore, cravings for convenient foods
have continued to soar, becoming a part of the modern society. Also, experience
and interaction with Nigerians living in the country and in diaspora has
revealed that they crave for fresh nutritious indigenous soups, notwithstanding
the cost.
Interest in these soups has continued to increase due
to their rich nutrient contents. While Afere
Ndek Iyak soup is known especially for the heavy protein and unsaturated
fat contents due to its high seafood-dense nature, edikang ikong and afang
soups are noted for their wealth of micronutrients (Obiakor-Okeke et al., 2008; Kayode et al., 2010) and fibre (Ani et al., 2011). For instance, a study
on the vitamins and minerals contents of selected soups consumed in South-South
Nigeria conducted by Kayode et al.
(2010) showed that Edikang-Ikong and Afang soups had the highest concentrations
of Iron, calcium, phosphorus, etc. These are all in combination with the rich
sensory appeal of these intercontinental delicacies (Faleti, 1999, Ana, 2000).
Soups, like other food products, are bound to
deteriorate in quality with time after production, if not properly preserved.
Even soups that are refrigerated are bound to lose important nutrients and
their nutritional values as a result of thawing and the reheating process
required before consumption. Most soups spoil readily as a result of their high
water activities, fat or protein contents. Due to its rich protein and fat
contents, Afere Ndek Iyak (fisherman)
soup in particular, spoils very easily. Hence, making the soups readily
available in a safe, shelf-stable and convenient form remains a problem.
Although canning, besides the ease of transportation
(Richard et al., 2007), sustains
shelf stability of foods for one to five years, even with the possibility of
being much longer under certain circumstances (Field et al., 2002)
without requiring refrigeration (Richard et
al., 2007), the technological requirements are deep and high in cost. Furthermore, reports have shown that although
canned foods may not be found to be containing trace of microbial growth after
long stay, sensory properties such as appearance and smell, and vitamin content
can deteriorate to unacceptable levels (Mnzava, 1997, Fasuyi, 2006). This is in
combination with the risks of destroying nutrients during the sterilization,
and the toxicological effects or loss of organoleptic properties due to
chemical contamination of the packaged food by the lacquering in the can
(Abdel-Rahman, 2015). Presently, the quest to consume canned (especially tin
cans) foods is decreasing (Nair and Girija 1994; Dileep and Sudhakara, 2007) as
a result of the high cost of tin for making cans acceptable to the market
(Srivasta et al., 1993). Reports of
tin poisoning from canned food have also raised safety concerns over canned
food (Abdel-Rahman, 2015). Hence, the problem of finding cheap, safe and simple
alternative to canning lingers.
There is therefore the need to produce, package and
preserve indigenous Nigerian soups in aluminium pouch, polyethylene bag and
plastics which may be considered an alternative to canning and these packaging
materials are cheap, safe and readily available. This will satisfy the
yearnings of Nigerians in the country and in diaspora that craves for these
covinient packed indigenous soups, and also fills the knowledge gap on the
packaging and preservation of South South (Indigenous) Nigerian soups. It is in
view of the need to fill this knowledge gap and ascertain which packaging
materials or storage condition is the best to preserve these soups for extended
period of time that this research was conducted.
1.3 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
With
the increasing population of Nigerians at home and in diaspora and the global
population in general, the demands for indigenous/ ethnic delicacies will
continue to soar. Besides the intended academic break through, packaging these
soups in ready-to-eat forms would also come as a great relief since the
preparation of most of these soups takes quite a process.
Besides raising
the nutritional standard of the people, the increased food production,
therefore, suggests it is essential to sustain increased production by exploring and expanding the horizon of packaging
ready to eat vegetable soups in containers easy to come by. The
success in shelf stability of indigenous soups packaged in these simple
materials would, apart from creating convenience, also allow the consuming
public to have their varied, nutritious, indigenous diets during all seasons,
with improved ease of distribution to
all manner of consumers in many local, regional and possibly, geographical
locations. Packaging of
various sauces, stew and broths have been carriedout by several workers, report
on traditional and heritage Nigerian soups are deficient, hence, the attempt to
standardize their packaging in ready-to-eat styles. Many researchers have
researched on the effects of packaging material and storage coditions on the
post harvest shelf life and quality of some individual soup ingredients and
vegetables. These studies were not extended to storage conditions with
appropriate packaging techniques for shelf stability of their finished products
in soups. Therefore, the present study sees necessity to assess the effects of
packaging materials (Polyethylene bags, aluminium pouches and plastic jars)
under ambient and regulated low temperature storage on shelf stability of the
soups.
In real
situation, many factors are known to affect the quality of a product. It is not
economically favorable to consider all possible levels of the factors at a
time. Also, it is feasible to predict and optimize processes and responses
using appropriate design models. The versatility of response surface models in
achieving this is widely reported. The use of response surface in this study
therefore becomes justifiable. With this methodology, the modeling of the
quality parameters of the soup, as well as optimization of the packaging and
storage conditions could be achieved.
1.4 AIM AND
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
principal aim of the research was to assess the effects of packaging materials
as well as storage conditions on stability of selected indigenous soups of
South- South Nigeria during storage.
Specific Objectives Include:
1) Prepare
Afang, Edikang Ikong and Afere Ndek
Iyak soups
2) Package
each of the soups in polyethylene, aluninium pouches and plastic jars and store
at ambient (25oC), refrigeration (4 oC) and freezing (-18
oC) conditions for 5 months
3) Determine
proximate and selected micronutrient constituents of the soup periodically
4) Determine
oxidative parameters of the soup periodically
5) Determine
microbiological quality of the soups periodically
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