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The object of this research was to determine if an acceptable angel food cake alternative could be produced that had reduced calories and sucrose content. This was accomplished through replacing sucrose in meringue, angel food cake batter, and baked angel food cakes with polydextrose and either sucralose, acesulfame-K, or Rebaudioside A at different replacement levels (25, 50, 75, 100%). Meringue and cake batter properties were measured using rheological techniques. Baked angel food cakes were analyzed based on height, weight loss, moisture content, color, and TPA analysis. With meringue batter, 100% sucrose replacement was unacceptable since undissolved polydextrose made analyzing and end products impractical. While 75% sucralose and acesulfame-K sucrose replacement exhibited comparable air incorporation to the sucrose control in cake batter, baked angel food cakes showed a decrease in functional properties. Polydextrose was likely the cause. 25% sucralose and acesulfame-K sucrose replacement were no different from sucrose cakes in regards to height, overall textural appearance, crumb pore size, and hardness. These cakes resulted in an overall calorie reduction of 18.7%. In every experiment, Rebaudioside A replacement treatments exhibited trends opposite of sucralose and acesulfame-K treatments. Rebaudioside A treatments performed the worst for rheological properties and TPA analysis.

Dietary fiber from whole foods has long been known to regulate bowel function; however it is essential to confirm this in isolated or synthesized fibers. Stool weight, gastrointestinal transit time, and stool consistency are all ways to measure changes in bowel function in humans and can be used to evaluate the efficacy of dietary fibers. Gastrointestinal tolerance is also of great concern since consumer acceptability of dietary fiber is related to intolerance issues. Furthermore, since observational and epidemiological data suggests dietary fiber reduces energy intake, which may be modulated by changes in postprandial satiety, we also investigated acute satiety using visual analog scale (VAS) and food intake via food diaries. Therefore, we investigated the influence of 20 grams per day for 10 days of the functional fibers Polydextrose (PDX) and Soluble Corn Fiber (SCF) compared a low fiber control on bowel function. Thirty-six healthy men and women completed this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. A two-week washout period was completed between each treatment period. Results show both PDX and SCF significantly increased stool weight compared to the control treatment. In contrast, whole gut transit time was not difference among the treatments. Stool pH was significantly lower for PDX compared to the control treatment. PDX caused a significantly looser stool than SCF and control. Flatulence and stomach noises were significantly increased by the fiber treatments compared to the control. Satiety was not difference among the treatments as measured by a VAS. No differences were observed in energy intake among the treatments.

The addition of prebiotic to a variety of food products has become a more common occurrence in recent years. Although research on the stability of prebiotics has been conducted, knowledge of the stability of prebiotics in processed foods is limited. The purpose of this research was to determine the biological stability of five prebiotics in a variety of food matrices when processed under various conditions. A biological test, the prebiotic activity assay, was used to test for stability of six food products (muffin, cookie, granola bar, breakfast cereal, sports drink, and bread) containing five different prebiotics (fructooligosaccharides (FOS), inulin, galactooligosaccharides (GOS), resistant starch, and polydextrose). The prebiotic activity assay reflects the capability of a prebiotic to support the growth of a probiotic strain relative to an enteric strain and relative to growth of both on a non-prebiotic substrate. Due to the complex matrices of the food products as well as low concentrations of prebiotics, the prebiotic activity assay was not sufficiently sensitive to assess biological stability in these food products. Additional food products (cracker, granola, and sports drink) were produced without background sugars and included a higher concentration of prebiotic, 10%. The prebiotic activity assay was used to assess the biological stability of prebiotics within these food matrices. Overall, FOSand inulin were stable when exposed to mild to moderate heating, but were biologically degraded when exposed to an acidic environment and moderate heat. GOS was stable when exposed to mild to moderate heat as well as when exposed to an acidic environment that was processed with moderate heat. Resistant starch posed problems with being accurately tested for prebiotic stability, and no strong conclusions were able to be made based on the results obtained through this method. The prebiotic activity assay was able to assess the biological stability of prebiotics in food matrices when exposed to several processing conditions, although the assay was better suited for certain prebiotics as well as certain food matrices. Advisor: Robert W. Hutkins

The market drive to develop lite foods in Australia. Extensive research has been conducted in the area of dairy products and processed meats. Some research has been carried out on cookies, crackers and cakes, whilst little has been done on plain sweet biscuits. As plain sweet biscuits have a considerable share of the Australian biscuit market, the potential for reducing sugar and fat in this variety was investigated. The functional properties of polydextrose as a sugar and a fat replacer were also determined. Replacements of up to 100% sugar and 50% fat were separately achieved using polydextrose without significantly affecting sensory acceptability. Up to 20% fat was successfully removed from the formulation containing 100% polydextrose in replacement for sugar. The total energy was reduced, with the energy contribution from fat being below, whilst sugar was slightly above the NH and MRC dietary targets

จากข้อมูลการสำรวจภาวะสุขภาพของคนไทยพบว่า ปัจจุบันคนไทยบริโภคผักผลไม้น้อย เป็นสาเหตุหลักทำให้เกิดปัญหาท้องผูกและเพิ่มความเสี่ยงของการเกิดโรคมะเร็งลำไส้ใหญ่ การบริโภคใยอาหารในปริมาณ 25-30 กรัมต่อวัน จะช่วยป้องกันและรักษาอาการท้องผูกได้ การศึกษานี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาผลของการบริโภคน้ำผักผลไม้ผสมใยอาหารต่อการขับถ่ายอุจจาระในผู้ที่มีอาการท้องผูก รูปแบบการวิจัยเป็นเชิงทดลองแบบสุ่มชนิดปกปิดสองด้านมีกลุ่มควบคุม (Randomized, Double-blind, Controlled Trial) กลุ่มตัวอย่างถูกแบ่งเป็น 2 กลุ่ม กลุ่มละ 30 คน กลุ่มแรกบริโภคน้ำผักผลไม้ผสมใยอาหาร (ใยอาหารปริมาณ 10 กรัม) วันละ 300 มล.กลุ่มที่สอง บริโภคน้ำผักผลไม้ (ใยอาหารปริมาณ 2 กรัม) วันละ 300 มล. เป็นเวลา 4 สัปดาห์ ประเมินการขับถ่ายอุจจาระทุกวันเป็นระยะเวลา 7 สัปดาห์ รวมทั้งวัดสัดส่วนของร่างกายในสัปดาห์ที่ 0 และ 4 ผลการศึกษาพบว่า การบริโภคน้ำผักผลไม้ทั้ง 2 กลุ่ม ช่วยเพิ่มความถี่ในการขับถ่ายอุจจาระ เพิ่มปริมาณอุจจาระ รูปร่างอุจจาระอ่อนนุ่มมากขึ้น สีอุจจาระดีขึ้น ความรุนแรงของกลิ่นอุจจาระลดลงเมื่อเปรียบเทียบกับก่อนการทดลอง โดยเห็นผลในสัปดาห์แรกหลังการบริโภคน้ำผักผลไม้ (p