Nutritional and sensory quality of micronutrient-rich traditional products incorporated with green leafy vegetables

The study was aimed to formulate micronutrient rich products with dried greens. ‘Keerae’ (Amaranthus paniculatus) and ‘shepu’ (Peucedanum graveolens) greens were steam blanched after chemical pretreatment and dried in hot air oven. Dried greens were analyzed for proximate constituents, vitamins, minerals, antinutrients and dialyzable minerals. Dehydrated greens were incorporated into ‘Mathri’ – a wheat flour based deep fried product and ‘Thalipeeth’ – a mixed cereal based shallow fried product at 4, 8 and 12 % levels. The products were evaluated for sensory quality in comparison to control (without greens) by an untrained panel numbering 80. Analysis of chemical composition showed no significant losses in proximate, mineral and antinutrient contents of dehydrated greens. Results of sensory analysis revealed that products incorporated with 4% dehydrated greens were similar to control in texture, taste and overall quality. However, acceptability scores reduced with increasing concentration of greens. Addition of dehydrated greens increased nutrient density of all products.