Nutritional value determination of thermally processed potato main course in retort packaging

Abstract

Consumers are increasingly demanding choices of ready-made foods with excellent organoleptic and health-related properties. There are two main trends in Europe; firstly, consumers are increasingly choosing foods that are comfortable for use, secondly, the number of people who are overweight is increasing, with more consumers paying close attention to the ingredients and nutritional value of products in order to balance the amount of the food they consume per day. The aim of the research was to develop new potato main courses and to determine their nutritional value. The research was carried out at the Faculty of Food Technology of the Latvia University of Agriculture, Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment "BIOR" and Laboratory of Mineral Nutrition at the Institute of Biology of the University of Latvia. Four different potato main course types with amaranth, quinoa, bulgur and chicken were prepared for the study; plain potatoes were used as the control sample. The content of protein, carbohydrates, lipids, fibre and minerals (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo, B) was determined in all potato main course samples. The addition of amaranth, quinoa and bulgur significantly increased the content of dietary fibre, protein, carbohydrates and lipids (p<0.05) whereas the addition of chicken fillet significantly increased protein and lipid content, but reduced the content of carbohydrates and dietary fibre. The content of various minerals, which are an indispensable part of the diet as they are necessary for the body's life processes and normal development, was significantly increased by the addition of chicken to the potato main course. The highest dietary fibre content was detected in potato main course with amaranth (3.0 g per 100 g product), drawing up to 9.0 g dietary fibre per one serving (300 g). Following the Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, potatoes with amaranth can be defined as the “source of fibre”.