Abstract:
A study to investigate the effectiveness of anti browning agents from different
compound groups in inhibiting enzymatic browning and loss in crunchiness of bean
sprouts was conducted under laboratory conditions. Kojic acid (KA), a member of
phenolic acids group and tartaric acid (TA) which belongs to carboxylic acid group
were tested on bean sprouts under ambient temperature (28
C) and stored for 24
hours. The results of this study have shown that kojic acid as low as 0.005% can
inhibit loss in crunchiness of bean sprouts while 0.0035% tartaric acid also gave
positive effect. Only seven combinations of treatment exhibited significant effect in
restraining the loss of crunchiness. These treatments were 0.02% KA+ 0.007% TA,
0.02% KA+ 0.0035% TA, 0.01% KA+ 0.007% TA , 0.01% KA+ 0.0035% TA and
0.01 % KA+ 0.0017% TA. However, none of the treatments show significant effect
on preventing bean sprouts from the occurrence of enzymatic browning. This study
suggests that 0.0035% of tartaric acid is found to be the most cost effective treatment
in maintaining crunchiness of bean sprouts.
