Structural and thermal interaction studies of aloe vera (aloe barbadensis miller) gel powder and developed food bars

• Published in: Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry Vol. 149; no. 10; pp. 4543 - 4559
• Main Authors: Gorsi, Faiza Iftikhar, Hussain, Ashiq, Kausar, Tusneem, Nisar, Rizwan, Siddique, Tahira, Yaqub, Shazia, Sidrah, Batool, Syeda Ayesha, Akram, Saima
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aloe; Analytical Chemistry; Carbohydrates; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Food; Food products; Fourier transforms; Functional groups; Infrared analysis; Infrared spectroscopy; Ingredients; Inorganic Chemistry; Mannose; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Pharmaceuticals; Phenols; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Scanning electron microscopy; Shelf life; Spectrum analysis; Thermal stability; Thermogravimetric analysis; Food bar; SEM; Binding properties; FTIR; gel powder; TGA
• ISSN: 1388-6150; 1588-2926
• DOI: 10.1007/s10973-024-13007-9

Fruits and vegetables are the basic sources of nutritional food products, developed through incorporation of their flours, extracts, bioactives and functional ingredients in different concentrations, and with different combinations. Due to the valued nutritional and functional properties, aloe vera plant has special importance in food and pharma sectors. In the current study aloe vera  gel, in the form of pulp was produced from  aloe vera  plants, and its gelatinous matrix was converted into powder, with the aim of utilization in food bar, with different combinations. Food bars have been catagorized as intermediate moisture food products with improved shelf life, stability and quality. Food bars with different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3%) of aloe vera gel powder (AVGP), were developed to study the textural, thermal and structural changes among different treatments. Food bars and its ingredients were analysed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scannig electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the chemical and physical interaction among these ingredients. Thermal stability of AVGP and food bars was calculated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). FTIR spectra showed the presence of pectins, phenols, mannose and uronic acid, as well as carbohydrates, monomers, and other functional groups. The DSC graph's peak indicated that the gelatinization reaction occurred at 77.57 °C. DSC results and SEM images showed that food bars having 2% AVGP had best smooth surface, which revealed that AVGP is thermally stable and showed maximum gelling power. As AVGP showed gelling and binding properties, along with thermal stability in fortified food bars, it can be used as functional ingredient in many other food products.