Replacing Oil with Smart Balance or Benecol Spreads in Boxed Brownie Mix. FN 453 Research Project. Brittany LoCoco, Ceneca Ramos, Carrie Scott

Transcription

1 Replacing Oil with Smart Balance or Benecol Spreads in Boxed Brownie Mix FN 453 Research Project Brittany LoCoco, Ceneca Ramos, Carrie Scott

2 I. Replacing oil with Smart Balance or Benecol in boxed brownie mix II. Abstract Plant sterols and stanols have the ability to lower a person s risk of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease continues to be the number one cause of death around the world taking millions of lives every year. Plant sterols and stanols are a powerful ingredient because of their ability to decrease serum concentrations of cholesterol. A daily consumption of the right amount of plant sterols and stanols will reduce LDL cholesterol. If the right amount of plant sterols and stanols can be infused into baked goods to promote healthier lifestyles, while also gaining consumer acceptance, it is possible that the risk of cardiovascular disease can be decreased. The acceptability is extremely important because the consumption of these plant sterols and stanols should be increased. Replacing the oil in the brownie recipe with plant sterol and stanol infused Benecol and Smart Balance could serve as an effective choice for increasing the consumption of plant sterols or stanols to decrease the risks of cardiovascular disease. Objective evaluations on texture and water activity and subjective evaluation of consumer acceptance were done on the brownies with the original recipe using oil and brownies with the Benecol and Smart Balance as replacements. Evaluation of the texture showed results that the control was the toughest brownie that required the most force compared to the other samples. Although these were the results according to the texture analyzer, the taste panelists consistently ranked the control the most moist. The water activity was the only test that had similar results across all three samples. The taste panelists preferred the original brownies with oil over the brownies using Benecol and Smart Balance as replacements. Therefore, replacing oil with these plant sterols and stanols might not be as effective in consumer acceptance. If the consumers do not accept these replacements, it will be harder to increase their consumption to decrease the risks of cardiovascular disease. III. Introduction In this experiment margarine containing plant sterols and stanols replaced the oil in boxed brownie mix to assess the effect on texture, water activity, and consumer acceptance. Plant sterols and stanols decrease serum concentrations of cholesterol, which can lower a person s risk of cardiovascular disease (Law 2000). Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death around the world (WHO 2011). In 2008, 17.3 million people died of the disease (WHO 2011). It is one of the largest health problems on a global scale (Eussen et al 2011). The addition of plant sterols and stanols to brownies tests the ability of these infused spreads to be incorporated into baked goods. Their acceptability in this experiment could lead to their use in other products such as breads, muffins, and other foods to increase their consumption. Plant sterols and stanols are essential parts of cell membranes (Law 2000). Their structures are very similar to cholesterol, so they compete with one another to be absorbed (Law 2000). The three most abundant forms include β sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol (Law 2000). They are all 4 desmethyl sterols (Law 2000). It has been shown that a daily consumption of plant sterols and stanols of 2.15 g reduces LDL cholesterol by 8.8% (Eussen et al 2011). This can have a large impact on the health

3 of an individual and their risk for disease. Another study by Gylling et al looked at effects of high intake of plant sterols and stanols of up to 8 g per day (Gylling et al 2010). Their results showed % reductions in cholesterol concentrations from baseline measurements (Gylling et al 2010). This suggests that higher intakes can reduce serum cholesterol effectively (Gylling et al 2010). Brownies were chosen for this experiment due to their ease of preparation and general likability by the majority of people. Three trials were performed containing three variations. The first variation followed the standard recipe provided on the back of the box. This was our control. The second and third used Benecol and Smart Balance spreads in place of the oil in the standard recipe. Both spreads were melted to mimic the viscosity of the oil. Texture, water activity, and consumer acceptance were measured. The purpose of this experiment was to test the effect of margarines containing plant sterols and stanols in brownies on the texture, water activity, and consumer acceptance and palatability. IV. Methods One box of Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mix was used for each variable of the experiment. The oven was heated to 325 F, and the 8x8 pan was sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. 519g of brownie mix, 59g water, g vegetable oil, and 2 eggs were stirred together in a bowl. The batter was poured into the prepared pan, and baked until an inserted toothpick came out almost clean. This batch was our control. The first variable tested was the use of Benecol spread in replacement of the fat. The recipe was prepared the same as the control, but Benecol spread was substituted for the vegetable oil g of Benecol spread was measured then melted in order to replicate the liquid property of the oil. The melted spread was added to the other ingredients and baked. The second variable was substituting Smartbalance spread for the vegetable oil. The recipe was prepared the same as the Benecol variable, and placed in the oven. Each batch of brownies was baked at the same time using the same oven. The brownie pans were rotated every 15 minutes to ensure even cooking. When they were done, they were taken out to cool. The same procedure was used for trials 1, 2, and 3. Sensory evaluations, texture, and water activity were all assessed. A hedonic test and ranking were used for sensory properties of the brownies. Testers tasted each sample and marked how much they liked it on a scale of A 1 represented disliking the sample very much, and a 10 was extremely liked the sample. The second evaluation ranked the samples 1 3 based on preference. The evaluation sheet used is included. Texture was analyzed using the texture analyzer, and water activity was determined using the water activity machine. All tests were repeated for each trial. VI. Discussion Taste panels, texture analyzer, and water activity were all conducted for the brownies. Numbers were assigned to each type of brownie. Number 287 was the control brownie, which was made according to the box directions. 562 was assigned to the brownies with Smart Balance margarine in place of oil, and 945 was assigned to brownies with Benecol. The taste panel looked at preference to the regular, control brownie versus the fortified brownies. There

4 were 3 trails of the brownies. Panelists marked on a scale of 1 10 how much each brownie was liked. Trial one had the most definitive results. Seven was marked 5 times for number 287 during trial one, as seen in Table 4. Therefore, the control was liked the most from trial one. Trials 2 and 3 had various results from taste panelists. The results are seen in Tables 5 and 6. The control was marked the most moist by panelists consistently. As seen in tables one, two, and three, 287 is marked number 1 out of 3 on moistness the most. The firmness of the brownies was tested using a texture analyzer. The average of the results were fairly different. The results of the texture analyzer can be found in Table 7. The table shows the control required the most grams of force. The Benecol brownie required a moderate amount, and the Smart Balance brownie required the least grams of force. It took more grams of force to penetrate the control brownies versus the brownies that contained the fortified butters. Water activity was also measured. The results are shown in Table 8. There was very little difference of water activity among the brownies. The averages ranged from These higher water activity numbers could promote microorganism growth. After analyzing all the data collected, we will reject our null hypothesis. The hypothesis stated that replacing the oil in boxed brownies with Smart Balance or Benecol would have no change. The taste panelists preferred the taste of the control to either of the other samples. The taste panelists also ranked the control as the most moist. According to the texture analyzer the control was the toughest compared with the other samples. Finally, the water activity was the only test that had similar results across the three samples. Panelists preferred the control brownies made with oil. Since taste is a big factor when it comes to choosing foods, replacing oil in brownies with margarines fortified with plant sterols may not be widely accepted among consumers. Fortifying popular foods with plant sterols/stanols could help reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular disease. Only 2g of plant sterols/stanols a day are needed to help reduce cholesterol; however there is still need for some research in the area(eussen et al 2011). Future research could include making cookies, pies, or other baked goods. More consumer panelists could also give better results. V. Results Statistics SPSS Sample Table 1: Trial 1, Moistness of Brownies Taste Panel Sample

5 Table 2: Trial 2, Moistness of Brownies Taste Panel Sample Table 3: Trial 3, Moistness of brownies Taste Panel Table 4: Trial 1, Taste Panel Table 5: Trial 2, Taste Panel

6 Table 6: Trial 3, Taste Panel Texture Analyzer Sample Trial 1 Trail 2 Trial 3 Avg Table 7: Trials 1 3, Texture Analyzer Texture Analyzer Grams of Force Texture Analyzer

7 Figure 1: Trials 1 3, Texture Analyzer Texture Analyzer Variable N N* Mean SE Mean StDev Minimum Q1 Median Q3 Maximum 945 C C C Water Activity Sample Trial 1 Trail 2 Trial 3 Avg Table 8: Trials 1 3, Water Activity Water Activity Levels (Aw) Water Activity Figure 2: Trials 1 3, Water Activity Water Activity Variable N N* Mean SE Mean StDev Minimum Q1 Median Q3 945 C C C

8 References Eussen SRBM, Feenstra TL, Toxopeus IB, et al Costs and health effects of adding functional foods containing phytosterols/ stanols to statin therapy in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. European Journal of Pharmacology 668: Gylling H, Hallikainen M, Nissinen MJ, et al Very high plant stanol intake and serum plant stanols and non cholesterol sterols. Eur J Nutr 49: Law M Plant sterol and stanol margarines and Health. British Medical Journal 321: World Health Organization (WHO). Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) Accessed on November 20, 2011.