Effect of Four Fats on Muffin Texture and Color FN 453 Final Project Report Group members : Wenqi Cui Jiwon Min Liang Bo

Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Among many things that increase the risk for heart disease, high level of cholesterol and saturated fat is strongly correlated with coronary heart disease. Due to bad health effects of cholesterol and saturated fat, there is a growing number of people who concern about these effects. Butter gets a bad reputation, because as an animal fat, it is high in both saturated fat and cholesterol. One of the main ingredients in baked goods is butter. So, baked goods get a bad reputation as well. The purpose of this experiment is to substitute butter in muffins with different types of fat low in saturated fat and cholesterol to make muffins healthier but still full of flavor. 4 different types of fats were used; butter, margarine, corn oil, and peanut oil. Vanilla flavored muffins were used to compare the data, since vanilla did not have strong flavor that could interfere with flavor of muffins. The baking properties of the muffins were measured in three separated trials. In each trial, the texture of the muffins was measured by a texture analyzer and the color was measured by Hunter Colorimeter. The sensory panels tasted the muffins to rate flavor and overall preference of muffins. There was no significant difference with the overall preference, appearance, or texture of all the four kinds of muffins based on the sensory level. And the panels regarded the margarine muffins had the same browning color with the butter ones. However, the objective test showed a different result that the texture given by butter could not be substituted by any of the other fat, as well as the L and a value of muffins. Only the b value had no significant difference with margarine. Baked goods that have been baked with different types of fat, other than butter, can only be full of flavor, texture, and color by sensory and still healthier than muffins with butter which is high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Introduction Among countless life threatening diseases, heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. According to centers for disease control and prevention, the most common heart disease in the United States is coronary heart disease. In every 25 seconds, an American suffers from a coronary event and in every one minute, a person dies from the event. The chance of developing coronary heart disease can be reduced by taking steps to prevent and control factors that put people at greater risk. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, tobacco, and secondhand smoke are indentified as factors associated with heart disease. Also, a research shows that consumption of high-fat dairy products such as butter and ice cream is correlated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease due to high content of saturated fat (Hu and others 1999). Higher cholesterol concentrations have consistently been found to be strongly associated with higher risks of coronary disease (Collins and others 2004). Fats can be primarily divided into three different categoriessaturated, unsaturated, and trans fats. Saturated fat is fat that is naturally solid at room temperature and comes from mainly animal sources that include butter, cheese, and the marbling in beef. Unsaturated fat is naturally liquid at room temperature and generally comes from mainly plants sources that include olive oil, canola oil, and the oils in nuts. Unsaturated fat is considered as the most healthful fats to consume, because it tends to increase HDL levels and to lower LDL levels. Trans fats are fats which are normally liquid at room temperature, but have been chemically modified to be solid at room temperature through the process of hydrogenation. Cholesterol is not bad as it sounds. Actually, it is essential for all animal life to produce cell membranes and some hormones, and serves other needed bodily functions. But, it becomes an enemy when too much cholesterol is circulating in the blood and it can be a major risk for coronary heart disease. Since cholesterol cannot be dissolved in the blood, it needs special carriers called lipoproteins to be transported in and out of the cells. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, is known as “bad” cholesterol. When too much LDL (bad) cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. Together with other substances, it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. If a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery, heart attack or stroke can result. High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is known as “good” cholesterol. HDL cholesterol is known as “good” cholesterol, because high levels of HDL seem to protect against heart attack. Since heart disease is the leading cause of death in United States, there is a growing number of people who concern about their saturated fat and cholesterol intake level. Butter becomes an enemy to those people because it is both high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Not only butter gets a bad reputation but also do many other products that contain butter get a bad reputation as well. One of the main ingredients in baked goods is butter. Fat portion in baked goods is essential for its unique texture, aroma, and flavor. Substituting the butter with other sources of fat can lower saturated fat and cholesterol level and still keeps softness and flavor. The main reason for performing this experiment is to create muffins that are healthier but still with lots of flavor. The independent variable is different types of oil. Three substituted fats are tested; corn oil, peanut oil, and margarine. Since corn oil, peanut oil, and margarine are from plant sources, they do not contain cholesterol at all. Also, they are low in saturated fat...Average a tablespoon of butter contains 7grams saturated fat which is 36 percent of daily value. Also, it contains 30mg of cholesterol which is 10 percent of daily value. By replacing butter with other types of fat, it can lower saturated fat to 1 to 2 grams of saturated fat and eliminate cholesterol. The dependent variables that will be measured are texture, color, volume, and the taste preference. These variables will be gathered using the Texture Analyzer, Seed-Volume apparatus, Hunter Colorimeter, and taste panels. The experiment explores the changes in texture, volume, color and preference in flavor. Materials and methods Preparing sample The muffins are prepared with the following recipe (500g scale): Flour: 150g Brown sugar: 85g Baking powder: 6g Salt: 7.5g Eggs: 30g Vanilla extract: 6.5g Oil (Butter, Margarine, Corn oil, Peanut oil): 75g Milk (skim milk): 140g Dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt) and wet ingredients (eggs, vanilla extract, oil, milk and brown sugar) were firstly mixed separately. When the two portion were well mixed, combined them together. Stirred the mixture for 2min using medium speed on the hand mixer. Use paper muffin cups as the container of the mixture and weighed 50 g of the mixture for each muffin. One bench contained 4(kinds)x6(pieces) muffins. Baking the muffins for 17min, and turn the tray ones at 8min. Objective test: Once the muffins cooled, they were removed from their paper cups for the sensory analysis. One muffin from each variable was saved to be used for the objective testing. The cut up pieces were put onto a paper plate, labeled with a 3-digit number, and set out on a table with sensory evaluation score cards to be tested by other classmates. An example of the sensory score card used can be seen as follows: Dislike extremely ___1____ Dislike slightly _____2_____ Neither like or dislike ____3_____ Like slightly ___4____ Like extremely ____5______ Please taste each of the samples in front of you and answer the questions. 1. Rate samples (512, 354, 482, 843) in order of overall preference against the descriptive terms below. 512___________ 354___________ 482___________ 843___________ 2. Rate samples (512, 354, 482, 843) in order of appearance preference against the descriptive terms below. 512___________ 354___________ 482___________ 843___________ 3. Rate samples (512, 354, 482, 843) in order of texture preference against the descriptive terms below. 512___________ 354___________ 482___________ 843___________ 4. Ranking the 4 samples (512, 354, 482, 843) in descending order for color in the spaces provides. Most brown ______ ______ ______ Least brown ______ The participants of the sensory analysis were unaware of which variation was being sampled to provide randomization. The cards were collected afterwards and dated for each trial. Subjective tests The guide to the use of equipment in this experiment can be found in the Food Chemistry Laboratory Manual, C. Weaver and J. Daniel, 2003, pages 107-132. 1. Texture analysis: The muffin textures of all kinds were analyzed by Stable Micro Systems Texture Analyzer with cylinder attachment. Choose the model for muffins in the sample style file. The paper cups were peeled off the muffins before test and the muffin stood with top upside.