KOMPOSISI PROKSIMAT DAN PENERIMAAN SENSORI MAKANAN VEGETARIAN INDIA STERIL TERPILIH

PROXIMATE COMPOSITION AND SENSORY ACCEPTANCE OF SELECTED STERILISED INDIAN VEGETARIAN DISH

Abstract

Vegetarian diets are slowly becoming a lifestyle in Malaysia but is still lacking in the production of vegetarian foods in the form of ready-to-eat meals. The main objectives of this study were to determine the proximate composition and sensory acceptance of selected Indian vegetarian dishes (aloo gobi, dhal curry, potato curry, aloo patta gobi, bhindi masala, vadai and vegetarian kebab) before and after sterilization process. The preparation of the dishes was done using sterilization and vacuum packaging technique. As for the proximate analysis, ash, moisture, fat, protein, carbohydrate and crude fibre and total caloric content were determined. Sensory analysis which was quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) and the 7-point hedonic scale were used to determine appearance, colour, odour, taste, texture and overall acceptance, before and after sterilization process. In proximate analysis, significant difference (p<0.05) between reference and steril samples for vegetarian kebab and vadai (moisture), aloo patta gobi and aloo gobi (ash), bhindi masala, vegetarian kebab and aloo gobi (protein), aloo gobi, vegetarian kebab and vadai (fat).  Vegetarian kebab showed the highest mean value and significantly different (p<0.05) in energy values. Hedonic test showed that the overall acceptability of Indian vegetarian dishes among races were significantly different (p<0.05). Vegetarian kebab had the highest preference score as compared to the other samples. As for QDA, there were no significant difference in the overall acceptability for all the reference and sterilized samples. In conclusion, the sterilization process slightly affected the proximate composition and sensory acceptance of selected Indian vegetarian dishes.