Utilization of Dehydrated Herbs in the Formulation of Value Added Snack “Rice Flakes Mix”

Snack foods have been known in the world from time immemorial. Essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients can only be gained from food [1]. All over the world cereals are used as staple food [2]. Breakfast cereals are defined as “Processed grain formulations suitable for human consumption without further cooking”. Rice flakes are the most common breakfast cereal used all over the country round the year [3]. Rice flakes is locally known by many names like aval, avalakki, poha, chivda and beaten rice, which are prepared from paddy and has been claimed as a good source of protein, fat and carbohydrate. Using some selected dehydrated herbs such as lotus stem, garlic, ginger, mint, basil and drumstick leaves in the preparation of ready-to-eat snack chivda mix are a way of value addition to this cereal grain. As these herbs are easily available, low cost and can be mixed together in any food items without causing any side effects [4]. Herbs not only enhance the taste and flavor of foods, but also increase the shelf life by being antimicrobial and antifungal [5-8].


Introduction
Snack foods have been known in the world from time immemorial. Essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients can only be gained from food [1]. All over the world cereals are used as staple food [2]. Breakfast cereals are defined as "Processed grain formulations suitable for human consumption without further cooking". Rice flakes are the most common breakfast cereal used all over the country round the year [3]. Rice flakes is locally known by many names like aval, avalakki, poha, chivda and beaten rice, which are prepared from paddy and has been claimed as a good source of protein, fat and carbohydrate. Using some selected dehydrated herbs such as lotus stem, garlic, ginger, mint, basil and drumstick leaves in the preparation of ready-to-eat snack chivda mix are a way of value addition to this cereal grain. As these herbs are easily available, low cost and can be mixed together in any food items without causing any side effects [4]. Herbs not only enhance the taste and flavor of foods, but also increase the shelf life by being antimicrobial and antifungal [5][6][7][8].
Research has shown that herbs are beneficial for human health as it contains significant amount of micronutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, phytochemicals and fiber content that may help protect against degenerative diseases and micronutrient malnutrition [9]. Many valuable medicinal herbs are becoming rare and precious information regarding their health benefits is lost. Therefore, substitution of herbs in the preparation of rice flakes mix will increase the nutrition value and also provide health benefits to consumers [10]. The purpose of this study was to produce ready-to-eat low calorie nutritious snack rice flakes mix by incorporating edible dried herbs, along with a view to determine the organoleptic acceptability.

Selection of herbs
Six dehydrated herbs namely lotus stem, garlic, ginger, mint, basil and drumstick leaves were procured from the licensed and authorized shops of herbs. The above dehydrated herbs were cleaned and shortened for chemical analysis.

Chemical analysis of dehydrated herbs
Nutrients such as moisture, protein, fat, crude fiber, calcium and iron content of selected dehydrated herbs were analyzed. Total carbohydrate content were determined by difference method, protein by Micro-kjeldhal method using a conversion factor of 6.25, fat by Soxhlet extraction method using petroleum ether (B.P. 60-70°C), fiber by AOAC method [11], calcium content was determined by KMnO 4 titration method, and iron content were estimated by the calorimetric method [12].

Basic formulation of value added rice flakes mix
The table 1 shows the composition of dehydrated herbs. The selected six dehydrated herbs viz. mint (Mentha asiatica), basil (Ocimum basilicum), drumstick leaves (Moringa oligfera), ginger (Zingiber officinale), garlic (Allium longicuspis) and lotus stem (Nelumbo nucifera) were incorporated in four treatments T 1 , T 2 , T 3 and T 4 at 4, 8, 12 and 16% incorporation levels with herbs in different ratios using standard ingredients and methods of preparation. These herbs are not incorporated in standard recipe of rice flakes which is named as control (T 0 ). In this study few herbs were specifically used in different treatments like mint in treatment T 1 , basil in treatment T 2 and drumstick leaves in treatment T 3 , because all these herbs show different sensory attributes along with different nutritional profile. The four treatments of different ratios were tried several times and evaluated by the sensory evaluation method and the best ratios were then used to prepare the product.

Details of control and treatments
Control (T 0 ): Control T 0 was prepared without incorporating herbs. (100% rice flakes).

Preparation of value added rice flakes mix
Rice flakes mix was prepared by incorporating dehydrated herbs in different ratios. A teaspoon of oil is taken in a non stick wok; mustard seeds, green chilies and turmeric powder were added and roasted for a minute. Dry rice flakes, salt and dehydrated herbs namely lotus stem, garlic, ginger, mint, basil and drumstick leaves were added and all the ingredients were mixed together properly, preferably on a low flame. Then it was cooled and stored in an air tight container.

Organoleptic evaluation
The prepared rice flakes mix were served to group of 30 semi trained panelists for the evaluation of color, texture, flavor, taste and overall acceptability on a nine point hedonic scale with a scores ranging from 9 to1 where scores 9 to 1 represented like extremely to dislike extremely. The quality parameters were quantified and the mean scores were calculated.

Nutritive value of developed rice flakes mix
The proximate principles (energy, fat, carbohydrate, protein, fiber) and minerals like calcium and iron of the control and enriched rice flakes mix were assessed using the food composition tables [13] and analyzed value of herbs was determined by calculation method.

Statistical analysis
The data collected was tabulated and analyzed statistically with the help of approved statistical techniques. Percentage, mean scores, standard error of mean, critical difference and analysis of variance were applied.

Results and Discussion
The results obtained from the present investigation have been discussed in the following sub heads:  Table 3, shows the organoleptic scores of rice flakes mix prepared by utilizing selected dehydrated herbs. The treatment T 4 (16% incorporation) of the product was found to be highly acceptable with scores 8.80, 8.80, 8.75, 8.65 and 8.77 for color, texture, flavor, taste and overall acceptability than control (T 0 ), making it quite obvious that the addition of 16% dehydrated herbs, increase the color, consistency, flavor, taste and overall acceptability of the rice flakes mix. The other levels of incorporation were also liked at various degrees although a little less than T 4. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) reveals that the calculated value of F (15.85) is greater than table value (3.26) on 4, 12 (d.f.) at 5% probability level. Therefore it can be concluded that there was a significant difference (p≤0.05) between treatments regarding the overall acceptability of the product. Herbs have antimicrobial property and it act as traditional food preservative, which increases the shelf life of the product [14,15].

Nutritive value of developed rice flakes mix
The data pertaining to nutritive value of the developed herbal rice flakes mix is presented in Values are expressed as means ± SEM (n=3). rich ingredient like rice flakes. On comparing the protein content it was found to be highest in treatment T 4 (6.86 g/100 g). Fat content was improved in treatment T 4 (1.34 g/100 g) in comparison to treatment T 0 (control) (1.20 g), carbohydrate content of treatment T 0 (control) (77.30 g/100 g) was maximum and minimum for treatment T 4 (73.53 g). Fiber in treatment T 4 (4.46 g/100 g) was in the highest amount. The treatment T 0 (control) in general had low fiber content whereas after the incorporation of dehydrated herbs, the values increased considerably. Thus, the developed rice flakes mix can be recommended to persons requiring high fiber diets. The calcium content was found to be maximum in treatment T 4 (119.35 mg/100 g) among other treatments. The range of iron content in developed rice flakes mix was 20.0 to 25.16 mg/100 g. The increase in iron values can be said to be proportionate to the quantities of dehydrated herbs added to the main ingredient rice flakes [16]. The rice flakes mix can therefore be recommended for intervention among anemic subjects as well as among others for improving nutritional status of the population. The standard rice flakes mix available in the market have low nutritional value in comparison to the developed rice flakes mix incorporated with dehydrated herbs.

Conclusion
It can be concluded from the results that the incorporation of selected dehydrated herbs (viz. mint, basil, drumstick leaves, ginger, garlic and lotus stem) in rice flakes can improve the nutritional quality of products and adds variety in the diet. The dehydrated herbs used in preparation of rice flakes mix act as antimicrobial agent, which works as a natural preservative to keep food safe and to increase the shelf life of the product. Partial replacing of rice flakes with dehydrated herbs had good impact on the nutritive value by increasing the protein, fat, fiber, calcium and iron content in the rice flakes mix. The prepared herbal rice flakes mix was found to be acceptable in both sensory and nutritional quality. Thus addition of value added edible medicinal herbs in food products will improve the well being of the citizen in the country and prevent micronutrient malnutrition.   Table 4: Nutrient composition (per 100 g) in control and treated sample of rice flakes mixes.