Utilisation of Local Vegetables as Noble Functional Food Product / Jhoorhanah binti Abdul Halim

Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Research

Abstract
A regular basis of vegetable consumption is vital for a healthy diet and prevention of non-communicable diseases as they are packed with various nutrients such as fibre, vitamins, minerals and more. Hence, the objective of this study is to formulate a convenient and novel food product with high nutrient value from local vegetables commonly found in Brunei Darussalam suitable for current health-conscious trend in the market. In this study, nine vegetable paper samples were formulated consisting of red spinach with no binding agent (BN), red spinach sago (BS), red spinach okra (BO), eggplant with no binding agent (EN), eggplant sago (ES), eggplant okra (EO), moringa with no binding agent (MN), moringa sago (MS) and moringa okra (MO). The samples were analysed for their proximate content, physicochemical content, antimicrobial and shelf-life of the local vegetables and vegetable papers were analysed. In addition, several antioxidant activity assays were conducted for the local vegetable and vegetable paper samples as well which includes DPPH, ABTS, Total Phenolic Content (TPC), Total Flavonoid Content (TFdC) and Total TFC Content (TFC). The cytotoxicity of the samples was measured against PANC-1, HT-29 cells and in brine shrimp lethality assay. Furthermore, a texture profile analysis was conducted to measure parameters such as hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, chewiness, gumminess. A sensory analysis consisting of thirty participants was conducted to assess the samples based on attributes such as appearance, flavour, aroma, texture, mouthfeel and overall acceptability. Results have shown that the moisture, protein, fat, ash, carbohydrate and dietary fibre content of the vegetable papers ranges from 21.13+0.18% to 89.00t0.12%, 0.87+0.03% to 5.31=0.06%, 0.4610.02% to 2.22+0.40%, 0.27=0.19% to 16.84+0.21, 5.47=0.34% to 57.8610.52% and 2.73=0.48% to 5.91+0.24%, respectively. Moringa sago (MS) vegetable paper revealed the highest antioxidant activity value in DPPH (56.6910.93 4g AAE/ gdw, TPC (3902.03+5.75 #g GAE/g dw) and slightly higher selectivity towards glucose-starved condition against PANC1 pancreatic cell line with cell viability value of 95.93+2.49% in high glucose condition and 79.84+3.41% in no glucose condition. In addition, red spinach with sago (BS) vegetable paper has the highest antioxidant value in ABTS+ (15506.52+71.44 4g Trolox/ g dw) and TFdC (106.3010.24 mg QE ug/g dw). The brine shrimp toxicity value ranges from low to moderate, with LCso from 39.92+4.39 ug/mL to 249.20‡39.26 ug/mL. The sensory acceptance rate of the product ranges from 2.79+0.96 to 3.31=1.05, which shows a medium acceptance rate. Overall, the vegetable paper samples show great potential for a novel food product, as further improvement and research would enhance the quality, taste and acceptance of the product itself.

Thesis (Master) -Universiti Teknologi Brunei, 2024

Includes bibliographical references from page 77-102