Fresh roselle are high in moisture and deteriorate easily, which makes drying important for extending shelf-life and increasing availability. This study investigated the influence of different drying methods (oven-drying, freeze-drying, vacuum-drying, and sun-drying) on the quality of roselle calyx expressed as physicochemical properties (moisture content, water activity, soluble solids, color), volatile compounds, and microstructure. Oven-drying and freeze-drying reduced moisture content most while vacuum-drying and sun-drying were not as efficient. All drying methods except sun-drying resulted in water activities low enough to ensure safety and quality. Vacuum-drying had no impact on color of the dry calyx and only small impact on color of water extract of calyx. Drying reduced terpenes, aldehydes, and esters but increased furans. This is expected to reduce fruity, floral, spicy, and green odors and increase caramel-like aroma. Sun-drying produced more ketones, alcohols, and esters. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that freeze-drying preserved the cell structure better, and freeze-dried samples resembled fresh samples most compared to other drying techniques. The study concludes that freeze-drying should be considered as a suitable drying method, especially with respect to preservation of structure.
The influence of fermentation temperatures (8°C, 16°C, and 32°C) and yeast levels (2%, 4%, and 6% of the flour) on the formation of volatile compounds in the crust of whole meal wheat bread was investigated. The fermentation times were regulated to optimum bread height for each treatment. The volatile compounds were extracted by dynamic headspace extraction and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results were evaluated using multivariate data analysis and ANOVA. In all crust samples 28 volatile compounds out of 58 compounds were identified and the other 30 compounds were tentatively identified. Higher fermentation temperatures promoted the formation of Maillard reaction products 3-methyl-1-butanol, pyrazine, 2-ethylpyrazine, 2-ethyl-3-methylpyrazine, 2-vinylpyrazine, 3-hydroxy-2-butanone, 3-(methylsulfanyl)-propanal, and 5-methyl-2-furancarboxaldehyde whereas at lower temperature (8°C) the formation of 2- and 3-methylbutanal was favored. Higher levels of yeast promoted the formation of 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol and 3-(methylsulfanyl)-propanal, whereas hexanal was promoted in the crust fermented with lower yeast level.
Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) is considered an underexploited food crop with nutritional and large scale processing potential. Roselle can be utilized as a functional food, mainly due to being rich in vitamin C, anthocyanins, other phytochemicals, and natural color. Although Roselle has been widely planted and consumed, little is known about the composition of aroma profiles. In this study, seventeen samples of dried Roselle calyx were collected from eight countries and the aroma profiles were determined by dynamic headspace sampling and GC-MS and GC-olfactometry. Furthermore, total soluble solids, pH, and color L* a* b* were determined, and sugars and acids were measured using ion chromatography. There were significant (p