Processing

#### **Chapter 2**

Effects of the Incorporation of Arabinoxylans Derived from Selected Cereals (Rice Bran and Corn Fibre) and Sugarcane Bagasse on the Quality of Baked Foods: A Systematic Review

*Roy Orain Porter*

#### **Abstract**

The supplementation of baked foods, namely cookie/biscuits, bread and cakes with agricultural by-products from cereal based fibres (rice bran and corn fibre) and sugarcane bagasse at rates of 0% - 15%; 0% - 30% and 0% - 10% respectively can significantly improve its nutritive value and enhanced its physical and sensorial qualities. This chapter aims to review the role of dietary fibres derived from selected cereals (rice bran and corn fibre) and sugarcane bagasse in baked foods, namely cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes; evaluate their effects on the physical and sensory qualities of these baked food products and to critically assess their beneficial impacts in baked foods. These enriched food products can potentially be utilised in shaping health policies, contribute to the dietary fibre needs of consumers and facilitate the development of functional foods. Fibre enriched foods potentially can assist in improving various physiological functions of the human body. A Keywordbased search strategy was utilised to conduct a comprehensive search for articles catalogued in ScienceDirect, Web of Science, PubMed, Medline, CINAHL and Google Scholar that were published between January 1, 2010 and August 1, 2020. Applicable aspects of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines provided the framework of this review. Fourteen (14) studies met the inclusion/extraction criteria and was placed into subgroups by food types and fibre used in supplementation. Only eleven (11) studies were suitable for statistical data analysis. The supplementation of sugarcane bagasse at both 5% and 10% and rice bran up to 15% into cookies/biscuits significantly undesirable acceptance (p < 0.05). Corn fibre enriched cookies/biscuits up to 20% showed a significantly (p < 0.05) favourable impact on the sensory qualities of the food product. The physical qualities of sugarcane bagasse supplemented cookies/ biscuits were negatively affected. The incremental addition of sugarcane bagasse resulted in at 50% rise in the firmness of 10% enriched cookies/biscuits, from 5.7 5.4 (Kg Force) to 13.0 3.9 (Kg Force). Corn fibre cookies supplementation did not significantly affect its physical qualities. Rice bran incorporation of 15% in bread showed a significant (p < 0.05) undesirable effect on its sensory qualities. However, the was no significant adverse effect on its physical quality. Corn bran

enriched cakes up to 20% fibre incorporation displayed a significant (p < 0.05) favourable effect on the sensory properties of cakes.

**Keywords:** Arabinoxylans incorporation, dietary fibres, rice bran, corn fibre, sugarcane bagasse, baked food products

#### **1. Introduction**

There are numerous dietary fibre enriched food products developed in the food industry during the last decade encompassing various popular and widely consumed foods such as bread, cakes, cookies or biscuits, yoghurts among others [1–4]. It is well established in the literature, that dietary fibre intake at levels greater than 25 g per day, tend to be associated with numerous health benefits, namely the reduced risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, enhanced physiological functions of the human body, improved weight maintenance and other positive effects on various disease risk factors and the alleviation of certain types of cancers [5–8].

In recent years, several drivers such as consumer awareness of the nutritional value of dietary enriched foods, and governmental policies promoting healthy lifestyle behaviours have contributed to the continual increase in the use of dietary fibres in foods [3, 9–11]. Consequently, the value of the dietary fibres global market is expected to experience an astonishing annual rise, with the latest estimates projected growth of about 9.74 billion U.S. dollars by 2025 [12]. Dietary fibres can be considered as non-digestible carbohydrates which are inclusive of lignin, resistant oligosaccharides, resistant starch, non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) such as cellulose, pectins, hydrocolloids and hemicelluloses of which can be eaten and are not prone to enzymatic digestion and absorption within the small intestines, but can undergo complete or partial fermentation in the large intestine of the human body [1, 3, 6]. In previous studies, Foschia, Peressini, Sensidoni, and Brennan [13] indicated that the major dietary fibres (DFs) are consist of arabinoxylans, β-glucans, resistant starch and inulin. In the non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) fraction, arabinoxylan is the main polysaccharide, additionally, arabinoxylan structure is comprised of a framework of β-(1–4) connected xylose residues to which α-Larabinose tend to linked unto the second or third carbon positions [14, 15]. Agricultural by-products from milling industries namely fibres from selected cereal crops rice, corn, and energy crop sugarcane and plant parts from other fruits and vegetables can be regarded as dietary fibres and subsequently tend to contain arabinoxylans in varying amounts [16–18]. The addition of fibres to food products tends to influence the consistency, texture, rheological tendencies and sensory characteristics of the finished food products [3]. The incorporation of fibres in breakfast cereals, bread, cookies, cakes, pasta, yogurt, beverages and meat products among others have been widely reported with desirable results [2, 13, 19–23].

Arabinoxylans have been considered as an important dietary fibre of selected cereals (rice bran and corn fibre) and sugarcane bagasse and it has been suggested that when incorporated in the optimum proportions into food products they are capable of improving its quality, which includes, but not limited to only changes in the physical, rheological, and sensorial characteristics of food products [24–26]. Moreover, various technological functions of food products are also enhanced by dietary fibre incorporation into foods such as its nutritional value, functional properties and improvement of other chemical properties [27–29]. It has also been reported in several studies that dietary fibre arabinoxylans from agricultural byproducts such as rice bran, corn fibre: brans and other corn parts and sugarcane bagasse can be safely utilised in the baking industry and consequently be used

whole or as extracts of soluble dietary arabinoxylans to facilitate the production of functional and health-promoting food products through the supplementation of bread, cakes, cookies and other food products at varying incorporation rates [2, 17, 30–34].

However, there is a lack of consensus in the body of literature relating to the beneficial effects the incorporation at various levels of dietary arabinoxylans derived or originating from sources such as selected rice bran, corn fibre (bran and other parts) and sugarcane bagasse have on the sensory and physical qualities of baked foods including cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes [23, 35–40]. This systematic review, therefore, endeavours firstly to review the role of dietary fibre derived from selected cereals (rice bran and corn fibre) and sugarcane bagasse in baked foods, namely cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes; secondly to evaluate the effects of the incorporation of dietary fibre derived from selected cereals (rice bran and corn fibre) and sugarcane bagasse on the physical and sensory qualities of these baked food products and finally to critically assess the beneficial impacts of dietary fibre incorporation derived from selected cereals (rice bran and corn fibre) and sugarcane bagasse in baked foods, including bread, cakes and cookies.

#### **2. Methodology**

The methodology follows applicable aspects of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines [41] and includes details of the search strategy, studies selection, inclusion and extraction criteria, data extraction and assessment of study validity, risk of bias assessment and data analysis of the relevant studies utilised in this systematic review.

#### **2.1 Research strategy**

A systematic literature search using a Keyword-based concept was conducted for articles catalogued in ScienceDirect, Web of Science, PubMed, Medline, CINAHL and Google Scholar that were published between January 1, 2010 and August 1, 2020 using the following search strategy. The keyword-based searches included Boolean operators and were constructed using words from the research question along with the combination of truncations and wildcards to access as much primary research material as possible. The searches were limited to Scholarly and Peer-reviewed and English language. Grey areas of the literature such as government reports, conference reports and food magazines were also searched. Further, the reference lists of recent systematic reviews were searched for additional references.

#### **2.2 Study selection, inclusion and exclusion criteria**

The eligibility criteria utilised for the selection of relevant research studies followed the population, intervention, comparison, outcome and study settings (PICOS) research question framework. Further details are summarised in **Table 1**.

For studies to be included in the systematic review the following criteria were established, namely:

• The keywords and phrases e.g. arabinoxylans incorporation, rice and corn brans/fibre, sugarcane bagasse, baked food products among others relating to the research question should be included in the particular article title,


**Table 1.**

*PICOS criteria for study selection.*


Studies under consideration for inclusion in the review which did not contain the required information as outlined previously were not selected. All articles chosen were sent to the EndNote reference database, which facilitated the identification of duplicate articles, which were also excluded from the review.

Articles consisted of a sensory evaluation of a particular baked food product, including bread, cakes and cookies; a nutritional and physical profiles of bread, cakes and cookies were deemed fundamental to the review since they provided data relating to the nutritional, physical and sensory qualities of baked foods being studied. The use of articles investigating the different dietary fibre sources of arabinoxylans (rice and corn brans and sugarcane bagasse) incorporation into foods facilitated the assessment of the effects of arabinoxylans incorporation into foods, its possible implications, roles and the possible optimum inclusion proportions of arabinoxylans, which may result in improved nutritional, physical and sensory qualities of different food products for consumer consumption. Priority was given to studies examining arabinoxylans derived from agricultural by-products of selected cereals (rice and

corn) and sugarcane bagasse. Articles produced earlier than 2010 were excluded, mainly to reflect the recent advancement of public health policy guidelines, modern processing techniques and equipment within the food industry.

#### **2.3 Data extraction and assessment of study validity**

The data extracted from the studies were performed independently by the researcher and it included the pertinent characteristics of the studies relating to the research question of the systematic review. The characteristics used for the data extraction sheet consisted of the following headings:


The data from studies were checked for errors and any unavailable data was denoted as not determined (ND) in the particular table.

The assessment of study validity was conducted using the Downs and Black checklist [42]. This checklist is comprised of 27 questions and can be utilised in the assessment of the methodological quality of both randomised and non-randomised studies [42]. However, for this review only fourteen (14) questions were found to be applicable, the other questions were denoted as not applicable. The score ranges and corresponding quality levels used for the Downs and Black [42] were as follows: excellent (26–28); good (20–25); fair (15–19) and poor (≤14) [43]. Some of the included criteria relevant in the assessment of articles for this type of review comprised of the following areas:


#### **2.4 Risk of bias assessment**

The risk of bias assessment of the articles used in this review was evaluated using the Cochrane collaboration's tool for assessing the risk of bias. The statistical information presented in the articles was assessed for its appropriateness. The outcomes reported in articles used were verified for accuracy and the section of the study it was first reported was noted. Moreover, the credentials and attachments of the respective authors of the articles utilised in the review were also checked. Importantly, references to the disclosure of interest were keenly examined at the end of the articles.

#### **2.5 Data handling**

In this review, only eleven (11) research articles out of fourteen (14) studies were considered suitable for statistical data analysis. There were five (5) studies that focused on rice bran as the arabinoxylan source and both cookies/biscuits (3 studies) and bread (2 studies) as the food vehicle; four (4) studies used corn fibre as the arabinoxylan source and both cakes (2 studies) and cookies/biscuits (2 studies) and finally two (2) studies conducted research using sugarcane bagasse as the arabinoxylan source and cookies/biscuits as the food vehicle. In the area of sensory evaluation, various scales were used in the assessment of particular sensory attributes such as hedonic scales (5-point, 7-point and 9-point) and10 cm unstructured line scale. Thus, sensory assessment scores were standardised by dividing individual scores given by the panel by the maxima of the particular scale used, then multiply by 100 to convert to a percentage. Data of panellists were extracted and grouped into categories of trained, semi-trained and untrained; gender and nationality and utilised to conduct a descriptive statistical analysis. Students were grouped as semitrained and in studies that did not specify the training of panellists, they were classed as untrained. Studies were grouped into sub-groups according to the food vehicle and source of arabinoxylan that was incorporated into the food product. The weighted means of the papers was calculated by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 26 software. Moreover, the percentage of fibre incorporation was also similar for each sub-group utilised for data analysis. The metrics extracted from the included studies relating to the physical analysis of the particular food vehicle were also standardised namely for bread: volume (ml), mass (g) and specific volume (g/ml); cookies/biscuits: width (mm), thickness (mm), spread factor (%) and colour: L\*, a\* and b\* and finally cakes: crumb colour: L\*, a\* and b\*, crust colour: L\*, a\* and b\* and texture (Kg F).

#### **2.6 Data outputs**

The fundamental characteristics extracted from the articles were conducted using applicable aspects from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines [41]. Statistical analysis of data extracted from the various studies included in the review was performed using a Simple (oneway) analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 26. Post Hoc analysis was conducted using Tukey's test to identify

where the difference lies between each group, (see Appendix F). The significant difference between the means was identified where (p ≤ 0.05).

#### **3. Results**

#### **3.1 Study selection**

In this systematic review, a total of fourteen (14) studies satisfied the inclusion criteria established, the process that guided the selection of these studies is illustrated in the PRISMA diagram (see **Figure 1**). However, only eleven (11) studies facilitated categorisation into a sub-group, namely bread, cakes and cookies/biscuits and then further sub-divided into fibre type and food vehicle and were thus considered suitable to be utilised for statistical analysis, (see **Table 2**). In the fourteen (14) studies included, all conducted a sensory evaluation study, a nutritional analysis/profile and a physical analysis of the particular food produced being studied, except the research studies completed by [17, 23], there was no nutritional analysis/ profile and the study carried out by [44], which did not perform a physical analysis of the chapatti, a type of fermented bread. The sensory studies consisted of 362 participants from eleven (11) countries, see **Figure 2**. Panel members used in the

**Figure 1.** *Study selection process based on PRISMA guidelines. Adapted from [41].*


*Values are means standard deviation of sub-groups. Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05). Key: SCB – sugarcane bagasse.*

#### **Table 2.**

*Sensory quality of sugarcane bagasse enriched cookies/biscuits.*

sensory studies ranged from 5 to 60 participants and the mode were 30 and 10 panellists. The panellists were grouped into trained, semi-trained and untrained, see **Table 2**. The panel members were also made up of both gender (male and female), age groups (which ranged from 18 to 50 years old) and occupations (staff members, post-graduate students and others not mentioned). In addition, eight (8) of the 14 studies were conducted in Asia, namely Sri Lanka - 1, India – 3, Iran – 1, Pakistan – 2 and Bangladesh – 1. Two (2) studies were conducted in North America, namely United States – 1 and Mexico – 1 and two (2) studies were carried out in Africa, namely Cameroon 1 and Nigeria - 1. Finally, one study was conducted in Brazil, South America. Studies examined various baked food products, namely bread - four (4) studies), cakes - three (3) studies, cookies/biscuits studies - seven (7) studies.

The metrics utilised in the sensory studies of this review encompassed colour of crumb and colour of crust; aroma; flavour; appearance; taste; texture firmness or hardness and overall acceptability, see **Table 2**. Meanwhile, for the physicochemical and physical characteristics aspects of the studies, the parameters examined included moisture %, protein %, ash %, fat %, carbohydrates %, crude fibre %,

#### **Figure 2.**

*Quality assessment results of the various studies used in the review, presented in percentages per category and overall total using the Downs and Black checklist.*

mineral contents and phenolic contents; texture for example firmness or hardness; colour or luminosity of crust and crumb (for example lightness/brightness, redness/ greenness and yellowness/blueness); loaf weight, bread height and bread volume; diameter, thickness, spread ratio and texture, see **Table 2**. The intervention data extracted were the various dietary fibres derived from arabinoxylans selected sources, namely rice bran, corn fibre and sugarcane bagasse and which was supplemented at different rates ranging from 0–30% into baked foods bread, cakes and cookies/biscuits.

#### **3.2 Data quality**

The quality assessment of the fourteen (14) research studies included in the review was conducted using the Downs and Black [42] checklists, importantly only fourteen (14) questions were considered applicable, the other questions were denoted as not applicable to this review and consequently were not utilised to assess the included studies. The highest score was received by the research paper [17], namely 14/14, while the lowest score was obtained by the research paper [44], namely 8/14. Five (5) research papers received 11/14; four (4) research papers received 12/14 and one (1) research paper each received scores of 13/14, 8/14, 9/14 and 10/14 respectively, (see **Figure 2**). Thirteen (13) out of the fourteen (14) studies excelled in the category of reporting, only [44] scored poorly. In the category of bias or internal validity all fourteen (14) papers received satisfactory scores, contrasting in the category of external validity only two (2) studies excelled, the other studies failed to show that the panel members were chosen from a representative sample. Moreover, in areas of confounding factors and statistical power, the majority of studies received high scores. Based on the scoring scale of the Downs and Black [42] checklists the quality of the fourteen (14) studies would be considered in the range of fair to excellent [43].

#### **3.3 Data analyses**

This section entails the review and analysis of the findings of the primary research articles included in the review which were categorised into sub-groups to reveal common effects and enhance statistical power, except for those papers which did not enable statistical analysis. The studies were grouped as follows: the types of food or food vehicle namely, cookies, biscuits, bread and cakes and fibre; the type of fibre supplemented into the food product, namely rice bran, corn fibre and sugarcane bagasse and the particular outcomes: effects or no effects were outlined or highlighted, (see **Table 2**). The included studies were further sub-divided into specific food and fibre types; the same rates of fibre incorporation into the particular food product as the food vehicle and their respective similar sensory metrics and physical parameters were extracted from the eleven (11) studies to facilitate statistical analysis. The findings will be presented under three (3) main food type headings, namely cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes to facilitate a logical presentation.

#### *3.3.1 Cookies/biscuits: sugarcane enriched*

The incorporation of sugarcane bagasse up to the level of 10% showed significantly undesirable overall acceptance (p < 0.05). Moreover, based on the sensory evaluation results, as the level of sugarcane bagasse increased, the overall acceptance of enriched cookies/biscuits reduced significantly (p < 0.05), see **Table 2**. Cookies/biscuits incorporated with sugarcane bagasse at 5% were similar to control.

Sugarcane bagasse incorporation up to 10% resulted in no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the physical quality of the cookies/biscuits. In **Table 3**, the thickness of fibre supplemented cookies was marginally less than the control sample and although the enriched cookies/biscuits were slightly wider, enrichment produced a reduction in the parameter of spread factor and was more 2 times harder than control cookies/biscuits.

#### *3.3.2 Cookies/biscuits: rice bran enriched*

Rice bran fibre supplemented cookies/biscuits up to 15% showed significantly undesirable overall acceptance. The sensory scores were all lower than the control sample according to sensory evaluation. Rice bran enriched samples obtained, namely 15% incorporation obtained the low scores for most of the sensory attributes assessed, see **Table 4**. Overall acceptance of cookies/biscuits significantly reduced (p < 0.05) in comparison to the control sample of cookies/biscuits. Incorporation of rice bran into cookies/biscuits at 10% performed only slightly better than 5% and 15% levels of incorporation. However, the control sample obtained the best overall acceptance based on sensory evaluation.

The incorporation of rice bran into cookies/biscuits significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the thickness of the food product. The width and degree of spread factor showed no significant differences in comparison to the control. Further details are outlined in **Table 5**.

#### *3.3.3 Cookies/biscuits: corn fibre enriched*

Corn fibre supplemented cookies up to 20% obtained a significant (P < 0.05) desirable overall acceptance based on sensory panel evaluation. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in colour between enriched corn fibre cookies/biscuits and the control. Interestingly, 20% supplemented obtained the best score for overall


*Values are means standard deviation of sub-groups. Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05). Key: SCB – sugarcane bagasse.*

#### **Table 3.**

*Physical quality of sugarcane bagasse enriched cookies/biscuits.*


*Values are means standard deviation of sub-groups. Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05). Key: RB – rice bran, ab1 is significantly different from control and 10% RB samples.*

#### **Table 4.**

*Sensory quality of rice bran enriched cookies/biscuits.*


*Values are means standard deviation of sub-groups. Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05). Key: RB – rice bran and ab1 – no significant difference between 5% and 10% RB supplementation.*

#### **Table 5.**

*Physical quality of rice bran enriched cookies/biscuits.*


*Values are means standard deviation of sub-groups. Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05). Key: CF – corn fibre.*

#### **Table 6.**

*Sensory quality of corn fibre enriched cookies/biscuits.*

acceptance. Moreover, both 10% and 20% enriched cookies/biscuits were found to be statistically similar, see **Table 6**.

In **Figure 3**, both 10% and 20% enriched cookies/biscuits obtained the best scores from panellists. Meanwhile, the incorporation of cookies/biscuits at 30% was not well accepted during sensory evaluation.

The physical qualities of up to 30% corn fibre supplemented cookies/biscuits were statistically similar to the control sample. However, cookies/biscuits incorporated with corn fibre up to 20%, showed increased thickness in comparison to the

**Figure 3.** *Graph depicting overall acceptance of corn enriched cookies/biscuits.*


*Values are means standard deviation of sub-groups. Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05). Key: CF – corn fibre.*

#### **Table 7.**

*Physical quality of corn fibre enriched cookies/biscuits.*

#### **Figure 4.**

*Graph depicting the sensory attribute – the texture of corn fibre incorporated cookies/biscuits.*

control sample, see **Table 7**. Incorporation of corn fibre at 30% gave cookies/ biscuits the highest firmness 2.1 0.2 (Kg Force).

In **Figure 4**, the texture of corn fibre enriched cookies/biscuits incrementally reduced with the incorporation of increased fibre up to 30%.

#### *3.3.4 Rice bran enriched bread*

In **Table 8**, incorporation of rice bran into up to 15% produced significantly (p < 0.05) undesirable overall acceptance. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the aroma of the fibre enriched bread and control bread. All the rice bran fibre enriched bread was similar to each other but all significantly different (p < 0.05) from the control. There was no significant difference in the overall acceptance of 5% and 10% rice bran incorporated bread from the control sample.

In **Table 9**, there were no significant differences between rice bran supplemented bread up to 10%.

#### *3.3.5 Sensory quality of corn bran enriched cakes*

Based on sensory evaluation corn bran supplemented cakes up to 20% were found to be significantly desirable (p < 0.05) in comparison to control cake samples

*Effects of the Incorporation of Arabinoxylans Derived from Selected Cereals… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99488*


*Values are means standard deviation of sub-groups. Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05). Key: RB – rice bran and \* means 15% is significant in comparison to control only.*

#### **Table 8.**

*Sensory quality of rice bran enriched bread.*


*Values are means standard deviation of sub-groups. Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05). Key: RB – rice bran.*

#### **Table 9.**

*Physical quality of rice bran enriched bread.*


*Values are means standard deviation of sub-groups. Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05). Key: CB – corn bran.*

#### **Table 10.**

*Sensory quality of corn bran enriched cakes.*

#### for the attributes of crust colour, taste, texture and consequently obtained the overall acceptance, see **Table 10**.

#### *3.3.6 Physical quality of corn bran enriched cakes*

Corn bran incorporated cakes significantly (p < 0.05) impacted the crust luminosity of cakes at both 25% and 30% supplementation levels. All the other physical parameters were similar to the control sample. The texture, namely firmness increased as the level of corn bran increased in the cakes, see **Table 11**.

Initially, the texture of corn bran enriched cakes increased with the addition of corn bran, then reduced at 10% level of incorporation and thereafter incrementally increased as the supplementation levels were elevated in cakes. Not surprisingly, the highest degree of firmness in cakes is at the 30% level of corn bran incorporation in cakes, see **Figure 5**.


*Values are means standard deviation of sub-groups. Means in the same column with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05). Key: CB – corn bran.*

#### **Table 11.**

*Physical quality of corn bran enriched cakes.*

**Figure 5.** *Graph depicting the texture qualities of corn bran enriched cakes.*

#### **3.4 Data Characteristics and features**

Several baked food products, namely cookies/biscuits, cakes and bread illustrated enhanced levels of dietary fibre, moisture, ash, minerals, vitamins contents and on the other hand reduction in proteins, fats and carbohydrates, see **Table 12**. The incorporation of rice bran up to the level of 15% into biscuits significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced its nutritional value [20]. In previous studies Yadav, Yadav, and Chaudhary [39] also found that the supplementation of biscuits up to 15% significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced its nutritional value in comparison to the control sample, namely significant increase in protein content from 7.3% to 15.4%; there was a non-significant increase in ash and fibre contents and a reduction in carbohydrates content. Several studies of cookies and biscuits using both higher rates of corn fibre (up to 40%) and rice bran (up to 20%) also reported a significant








**Table12.**

 *General study features and characteristics of cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes.*

increase in protein, fibre, minerals and moisture contents, on the contrary, fat contents and total carbohydrates showed a reduction in cookies and biscuits [45, 46].

In another study, protein contents in corn fibre enriched biscuits showed a reduction, as reported in most other studies ash, moisture and total dietary fibre contents were higher than in control biscuits [36]. Jauharah, Wan Ishak, and Robert [46] indicated that supplementation of biscuits with corn fibre up to 30% resulted in enhanced energy value. Contrastingly, more recently Sandhu, Bains, Singla, and Sangwan [36] revealed that biscuits supplemented with corn fibre up to 40% produced enriched biscuits with reduced energy value in comparison to control (a reduction from 499 Kcal to 486 Kcal). Moreover, there was evidence of reduced carbohydrates contents in corn fibre incorporated biscuits [36]. A recent study of sugarcane bagasse incorporation of cookies up to 10% Vijerathna et al. [38] indicated the presence of enhanced phenolic content and significantly higher ash and moisture contents, marginally similar fat composition in control and enriched cookies, but protein contents in enriched cookies were significantly lower than in the control sample. In 2011, Sangeetha, Mahadevamma, Begum, and Sudha indicated that sugarcane bagasse supplemented biscuits up to 15% biscuits possessed reduced total fat and protein contents, meanwhile, there were minimal variances in moisture content, ash and acid-insoluble contents in comparison to control.

There were two (2) studies, namely [17, 23] relating to corn bran supplemented cakes using similar incorporation percentages, namely 0–30% and that did not conduct any nutritional analysis, hence no data nutritional data were extracted from these studies. Rice bran supplemented bread up to 15% resulted in a significant (0.05) increase in moisture, protein, crude fibre, crude fat, ash and several minerals and vitamins in comparison to control bread [31, 47]. Importantly, it was reported in a study of enriched bread with rice bran that the sodium content was significantly (0.05) reduced, the composition of carbohydrates was reduced in enriched bread [47]. Further, a significant increase (p < 0.05) was reported in ash, moisture, proteins, lipids and minerals for example magnesium, potassium, zinc, manganese and iron; carbohydrates and energy value (Kcal/100 g) was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) and interestingly phytic acid contents of enriched bread using maize bran at 30% supplementation [48]. More recently, Gil-López et al. [44] stated that supplementation of chapatti using sugarcane bagasse resulted in enhanced total fibre 7.4 0.5–11.7 0.6 g/100 g, promote inhibition activity of the 2–2 diphenyl-1 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and also reduced the levels of crude fat, protein and ash content in enriched bread in comparison to control samples.

#### **4. Discussion**

#### **4.1 Roles of dietary fibre in foods**

#### *4.1.1 Fortification of foods*

Dietary arabinoxylan-based sources namely, rice bran, corn, and sugarcane bagasse can be used to improve the nutritional contents of baked foods and making them become functional products. In recent studies, Haghighi-Manesh & Azizi [17] reported that the inclusion of 5–10% modified corn bran in the cake formulation gave rise to the production of a functional cake with reduced cohesiveness and springiness higher gumminess, darkness, and favourable sensory properties. This suggests that corn bran can be added to baked food products to enhance nutritive value, textural qualities and sensory qualities. Moreover, incorporation of food with

sugarcane bagasse at 8% supplementation and other dietary fibre arabinoxylan sources into food systems such as bread tend to enhance its nutritional value and influence changes in the physical, rheological, and sensorial characteristics of foods [24, 44]. Also, previously, Amna, Bhatti, Anwaar, & Randhawa [45] indicated that enhance moisture, protein, fat and minerals (calcium, manganese, and magnesium) composition in cookies was reported as the level of rice bran incorporation increase in biscuits. The evidence suggests that 20% fibre incorporated rice bran cookies may possess a significant increase in moisture, protein and minerals (zinc and Iron) contents. Meanwhile, in bread, Pauline et al., [48] indicated a significant increase (p < 0.05) in water, ash, lipids, proteins, fibres and phytic acid contents between the control sample and enriched maize bran bread. The incorporation of 8.2 g of AXE per 100 g of available carbohydrates into bread facilitated the criteria for the health claim of the reduction of post-prandial glycaemic response [7, 50]. This suggests that enrichment using arabinoxylans-based sources can improve the nutritive value of ordinary food products.

#### *4.1.2 Water retention capacity*

Arabinoxylans dietary fibre sources tend to affect the moisture content of foods positively. Several studies reported the increase of moisture content in the enrichment of cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes, in comparison to the control samples, in some cases moisture was increased significantly (p < 0.005) and other cases marginally [31, 36, 38, 48, 49]. Javaria [20] indicated that moisture content in cookies/ biscuits can consider a fundamental quality since it tends to influence both end quality and shelf life of these food products. Arabinoxylan based sources during addition to dough tend to enhance viscosity and water absorption; improved dough development, reduce starch retrogradation and reduce the firmness of foods due to the presence of bound water facilitating less stiff gluten and starch network [22, 51]. This suggests that arabinoxylan dietary fibres supplementation into foods can enhance its moisture content and affect other properties in foods namely its storage properties and shelf life. However, in bread, it was proven that arabinoxylan has a beneficial effect on water activity and thus favourably influenced bread freshness [22]. Moreover, Jauharah, Wan Ishak, & Robert [46] stated that moisture in the range of 1–5% is considered a benchmark for cookies/biscuits and that fresh corn fibre may lead to too high moisture levels in foods and consequently result in food spoilage. It can be suggested that excess moisture may result in micro-bacterial activities which can impact shelf life unfavourably. Similarly, in the enrichment of bread with 20% corn bran high, bread quality was significantly affected by the water content in the composite formula [52]. Taken together, water retention capacity is fundamental in influencing baked foods' end quality.

#### *4.1.3 Dietary fibre enriched food qualities and functional food ingredients*

Arabinoxylans sources, namely rice bran, corn fibre and sugarcane bagasse tend to influence various qualities of enriched foods. Arabinoxylans (AXE) contribute essentially in determining the physical and chemical properties of the final quality of food products and made up a high percentage of the cell walls of cereal grains and also present in sugarcane bagasse [16, 22, 53]. In earlier studies, Foschia, Peressini, Sensidoni, and Brennan [13] indicated also that the quality and nutritional aspects of cereal products are influenced by the addition of dietary fibres into foods. Importantly, rheological properties among arabinoxylan fibres such as corn fibres displayed differences that may influence the quality of food products after their incorporation during food processing [54]. It can be hypothesised that rheological

factors can contribute to some of the undesirable features in dietary fibre enrichment of baked foods. Numerous studies have conducted dietary fibre supplementation of cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes using rice bran, corn fibre and sugarcane bagasse at different rates of incorporation and with varying results, see **Table 12** [17, 23, 38, 39, 47]. This suggests that fibre incorporation using rice bran, corn fibre and sugarcane bagasse tend to produce both desirable and undesirable physical and sensorial features in baked food products.

Moreover, because of the favourable nutritive value impact of dietary fibres on enriched foods, and the health-related benefits that be obtained upon consumption in a prescribed manner, it can be suggested that these ingredients can potentially be considered as functional ingredients in baked foods. In support of the suggestion, Zidan and Eldemery [55] found that the incorporation of 5–10% defatted black rice bran was found to possess acceptable sensory features and resulting in the nutritive value of bread being enhanced with minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, iron, copper, zinc and calcium. Contrastingly, Zhang et al. [40] found that arabinoxylan fortification of bread with 10% arabinoxylan fibre illustrated undesirable physical qualities in bread such as decreased specific volume, harder crumb, darker crust colour, and a coarser crumb structure. Overall dietary fibres facilitate the production of enriched foods, which may possess both desirable and undesirable sensorial and physical qualities, which can be attributed to the rheological behaviour of dietary fibre arabinoxylan when used in food supplementation.

#### **4.2 Effects of the incorporation of dietary fibre derived from selected cereals (rice bran and corn fibre) and sugarcane bagasse on the physical and sensory qualities of baked food products: cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes**

The incorporation of sugarcane bagasse at both 5% and 10% in cookies/biscuits resulted in significantly undesirable (p < 0.05) overall acceptance in sensory qualities, namely appearance, taste and texture, (see **Table 2**). It can be suggested that the increased firmness of the cookies/biscuits increased as the rate of supplementation of sugarcane bagasse increased affected its overall acceptance negatively, (see **Table 3**). Javaria [20] indicated that the firmness in cookies tends to influence their overall acceptance by the panellists. Sugarcane bagasse incorporation in cookies / biscuits showed no significant improvement in the physical qualities of the enriched product in comparison to the control. This can be attributed to the rheological properties of dietary arabinoxylans within the food matrix of the enriched biscuits. Kale, Pai, Hamaker, and Campanella [54] found that the rheological properties of extensional viscosity and solution viscosity of arabinoxylans fibres in the food system tend to influence its quality. This suggests that as the competition may have increased between the dietary fibre and the protein network, it resulted in a rearrangement of the food matrix network. The incremental addition of sugarcane bagasse resulted in at least 50% rise in the firmness of 10% enriched cookies/ biscuits. This can be attributed to the stiffness of the gluten and starch matrix may have been destroyed due to the competition of unextracted arabinoxylan dietary fibre and proteins for bound water. In a previous study of biscuits, Sozer, Cicerelli, Heiniö, and Poutanen [56] found that the hardness of biscuits was increased due to the particle size reduction of bran, while the starch hydrolysis index of biscuits decreased due to particle size reduction of bran.

In rice bran enriched cookies/biscuits incorporation levels of 5–15% showed a significant difference in comparison to control cookies/biscuits. Interestingly, a low fibre incorporation of rice bran of 5% displayed significantly (p < 0.05) undesirable acceptance, similar to 10% and 15% rice bran enriched cookies/biscuits, (see **Table 4**). These results agree with previous studies that reported a reduction in

overall acceptance scores in enriched foods as the fibre incorporation increased [20, 45]. Contrastingly, the addition of 5% dietary fibre was acceptable based on sensory evaluation results in wheat bran enriched biscuits. Evidence suggests that rice bran significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the thickness of cookies/biscuits, however, other physical qualities such as width and spread factor (SF%) showed no significant differences (p > 0.05), (see **Table 5**). Similar, findings were reported in some other fibre supplementation studies conducted. This can be as a result of the enhanced moisture absorption capacity of the dietary fibre used in the enriched cookies. In a recent study, Vijerathna et al. [38] reported that the enhanced size of the hydrophilic starch granules increased the thickness of fibre enriched cookies.

Corn fibre supplemented cookies displayed desirable overall acceptance at 20% incorporation rate and was significantly different (p < 0.05) in comparison to control cookies/biscuits, as a result, enriched corn fibre cookies/biscuit obtained the highest sensory score, (see **Table 6**). This suggests that corn fibre can be incorporated at a higher rate and produced desirable results possibly due to its high water retention capacity and its particle. In previous studies, Mishra & Chandra [57] reported a similar trend in results using a higher incorporation rate in cookies/ biscuits. Similarly, supplementation of cookies/biscuits at 10% and 20% were significantly different (p < 0.05) to control, 20% corn fibre cookies/biscuits followed by 10% supplemented corn fibre cookies/biscuits obtained the best scores during panel sensory evaluation. This desirable overall acceptance at 10% - 20% incorporation may have been influenced by cookies/biscuits increase moistures that facilitated texture 1.8 0.5 (Kg Force) and 1.9 0.4 (Kg Force) at 10% and 20% respectively; and colour of the enriched product. Cookies/biscuits incorporated with corn fibre at 30% obtained the lowest overall acceptance score. This suggests that increased firmness and other sensory attributes such as flavour, colour, appearance and texture acceptance which were significantly undesirable (p < 0.05) based on sensory panel evaluation contributed to a low overall acceptance of the food product.

In terms of physical parameters, results suggest that the firmness of corn fibre enriched cookies/biscuits increased with increasing incorporation of corn fibre up to 30%. Jia et al. [58] indicated that water-insoluble proteins in flours that possessed minimal gluten, namely glutenin and gliadin combined to influence elasticity and structural strength of dough (glutenin) and viscosity and fluidity of dough (gliadin) tend to intertwine and formed a strong protein network structure in the food matrix. This suggests that the degree of firmness affected the protein network in the food matrix negatively possibly due to low moisture levels which contributed greatly to the high texture of the cookies/biscuits [52]. Cookies/biscuits (51.9 5.0 mm) supplemented at 30% were thicker than the control (49.1 24.5), however, there was no significant differences (p > 0.05), (see **Table 7**). This can be attributed to the high moisture absorption capacity of corn fibre, a satisfactory source of arabinoxylan dietary fibre which possibly clings to the bound water within the food matrix network, as the viscosity of the solution rises in the food system, leaving the protein components to form strong aggregates. The polysaccharide, arabinoxylan tends to possess various physicochemical properties, such as the high capacity to retain water and display an inclination to form high viscosity solutions when incorporated into the food matrix [22].

Incorporation of rice bran into bread at 15% showed a significant undesirable overall acceptance (p < 0.05) in comparison to control samples for all sensory attributes, except crust colour, (see **Table 8**). This can be attributed to a possible darker crumb in comparison to the control. Ortiz de Erive, Wang, He, and Chen [52] indicated that due to the enrichment of bread with dietary fibre their colour is likely to be darker in comparison to the non-enriched sample, as a result of the

lower baking temperature of the crumb, thus affecting caramelization or Maillard's reaction. Arabinoxylans significantly affected protein network formation influencing the food matrix features and aroma of incorporated food products [59]. The aroma of enriched bread up to 10% was significantly different (p < 0.05) from the control. Enriched rice bran at 15% obtained the lowest overall acceptance score by the sensory evaluation panellists. In other studies, rice bran enriched bread was found to be acceptable at 5–10% [55]. This may be due to the sensory panel members' dietary familiarity with wheat flour bread. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the specific volume (ml/g) between enriched rice bran bread and the control, however, specific volume reduced as rice bran incorporation percentage increase in the enriched bread sample, (see **Table 9**). This can be attributed to the water absorption capacity of the rice bran, which absorbs potentially most of the moisture, its ability to form viscous solutions, thus leaving the gluten component in the bread matrix inadequately hydrated. Pauline et al. [48] reported that rice bran enriched showed a lower specific volume in comparison to the enriched bread. Moreover, as rice bran is being incorporated into the enriched bread, due to the high-water capacity of rice bran, the enriched bread texture is likely to increase and become denser and less porous, thus resulting in the continual reduction of the specific volume from 10.7 9.1 at 0% rice bran incorporation to 9.8 6.6 at 10% rice bran incorporation [52]. It can be suggested that textural qualities of bread tend tends to be affected by its moisture content.

Corn bran enriched cakes up to 20% fibre incorporation displayed significantly (p < 0.05) more desirable sensory qualities than control cakes, (see **Table 10**). This can be attributed to the increased moisture content levels caused by the addition of corn bran during the enrichment process, which allowed the corn bran supplemented cakes to be adequately hydrated. There was a significant difference in crust colour of corn bran enriched cakes and control at the 20% fibre incorporation level. This can be attributed to the possible pale colour of the enriched cakes at the 20% level of fibre incorporation. Generally, dietary fibre enriched cakes take the inherent colour of the fibre being utilised in the process of enrichment, until Maillard's reaction occurs [52]. The increasing levels of corn bran replacement in cake batter showed no influence on the hardness and springiness of cakes [23]. In terms of physical qualities, the firmness of cakes increased incrementally with the increase in corn bran supplementation, (see **Table 11**). Moreover, there was no significant difference (p < 0.05) in physical qualities, except in crust L\* at 25% and 30% enrichment. This can be attributed to the possible darker colour of the corn bran enriched cakes crust in comparison to the control. The high baking temperature will tend to affect the fibre enriched cakes' crust due to caramelization or Maillard's reaction and the inherent colour of the fibre [52]. In summary, the incorporation of dietary fibres, rice bran and sugarcane bagasse affected the sensory and physical qualities of baked food products unfavourably. However, corn fibre and corn bran produced desirable sensory and physical effects at 20% fibre supplementation in both cookies/biscuits and cakes.

#### **4.3 Beneficial implications of dietary fibres in foods**

#### *4.3.1 Nutritive value of enriched foods*

The fundamental evidence of this review suggests that as the level of fibre incorporation increased the nutritive value of the food products cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes were significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced, resulting in increased moisture, ash, protein, minerals, vitamins, dietary fibres and crude fats, essentially in cereal-based incorporated food products. Corn bran enriched bread was suggested to contain

significant (p < 0.05) contents of phytic acid contents. More recently, Ekpa, Palacios-Rojas, Kruseman, Fogliano, & Linnemann [4] indicated that food enrichment is an essential processing technique to enhance the nutrient content of staple foods including baked food products, thus, this suggests that fibre enriched foods can potentially provide convenience to consumers and ultimately facilitates improved food nutrition guidelines for the society and foster food security locally. Similarly, rice bran possessed vital antioxidants, which comprised of the well-recognised immune system enhancing compound, namely phytosterols; polysaccharides; minerals and trace minerals including magnesium, selenium, zinc, vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids and many other phytonutrients [28]. This suggests that the strategy of fibre enrichment of popular food products can potentially be utilised more widely by stakeholders in the food industry in collaboration with health care agencies of various age groups, stakeholders of feeding programmes in schools and policymakers in governmental public health agencies. In another recent study, corn fibre was found to be an effective antioxidant than wheat bran and this was attributed to its elevated ferulic acid content and polyamine-conjugates. Interestingly, hydroxycinnamates may not be necessary for the antioxidant effect [30]. Contrastingly, in sugarcane bagasse supplemented food products, there were instances of reduced total fat, protein and marginally increased in moisture content of food products. Reduction in protein and fats contents was also reported in other fibre supplementation research [60]. Overall, the nutritive value of food products can be enhanced by fibre enrichment.

#### *4.3.2 Health benefits*

It has been widely established that numerous health benefits are associated with the consumption of enriched food products in recommended administered quantities. Moreover, dietary fibre potentially can contribute to several health benefits such as enhanced bowel function, reduced levels of cholesterol in the body, better weight maintenance and assisted in controlling blood sugar levels in the human body [24]. Chen et al. [5] indicated that there are several beneficial impacts on various physiological processes which can be attributed to arabinoxylans and consequently health functions and prebiotic effects are being influenced by arabinoxylans structures, which in turn depends on its method of extraction and source. This suggests that rice bran, corn fibre and sugarcane bagasse, which are well-established sources of dietary fibre arabinoxylans, can potentially be utilised to produce a wider range of enriched foods which can confer various types of health benefits to the consumers. However, the consumption of dietary fibre should adhere to the established guideline of at least 25 g/day for adults [6].

Dietary fibre supplemented foods with rice bran, corn fibre and sugarcane bagasse, namely cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes enriched foods was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in nutritive value, and contrastingly tend to contain significantly (p < 0.05) reduced energy value (Kcal/100 g) in comparison to control samples. Evidence suggests that fibre enriched cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes were significantly enhanced (p < 0.05) by supplementation, thus they can be considered potentially as functional foods. Moreover, further evidence indicated that supplementation of chapatti using sugarcane bagasse resulted in enhanced total fibre 7.4 0.5–11.7 0.6 g/100 g and contributed to elevated inhibition activity of the 2–2 diphenyl-1 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical values. Diets with enhanced fibre contents are associated with desirable effects on the health of consumers [3]. In general, fibre enriched food products have shown a reduction in energy levels in comparison to the control samples. This suggests that enriched foods can be used for individuals with varying health conditions and risk factors such as coeliac patients and other different target groups.

#### *4.3.3 Food policy*

Dietary fibre enriched foods can potentially be utilised in various governmentalbased food policies. Recently, Lockyer and Spiro [61] reported that the average fibre intake in the United Kingdom can be considered fairly below the level recommended level. This suggests that a fibre enrichment strategy involving the relevant stakeholders can potentially facilitate an improvement in dietary fibre intake within the population. Previously, a comprehensive review study was conducted for modern dietary and policy priorities for cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes and found that there are complex influences of different foods on long-term weight regulation and recommended implementing an evidencebased strategy, including policy approaches, for lifestyle changes [62]. Importantly, fibre enriched foods contain rice bran, corn fibre or sugarcane bagasse all can be used in producing functional foods suitable for the particular health setting, thus this indicates enriched foods can be utilised in different food policies with different outcomes.

#### *4.3.4 Consumer acceptance*

Despite, the promising nutritional enhancement of enriched food products, rice bran and sugarcane bagasse at increasing incorporation levels tend to be associated with undesirable sensory and physical qualities of baked foods [55]. Evidence of this review suggests that lower incorporation rates can potentially result in improved overall acceptance of fibre enriched food products, further results suggest that the level of overall acceptance of baked products cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes were considered unacceptable above 20% incorporation for rice bran and sugarcane bagasse any type particular baked product. In support of evidence, [39] stated that incorporation of wheat flour using 10% rice bran protein concentrate (RBPC) resulted in the production of protein-enriched biscuits with favourable overall acceptability. It can be suggested that consumers tend to have a potentially better awareness of the health benefits of dietary fibre enriched foods, and also some of the most popular products are being enriched with dietary fibre thus creating a potential health trend among consumers. Similarly, Gul, Yousuf, Singh, Singh, & Wani [32] stated that consumer's attitude towards healthy foods is improving and thus presents potential opportunities for further development of functional foods on the world markets. This suggests dietary fibre food ingredients can potentially find wide applications in the other fields, thus increasing consumer awareness of dietary fibre enriched foods. In summation, using popular foods such as enriched bread and other potentially widely consumed food products as the benchmark for the enrichment of other products can facilitate further acceptance of consumers.

#### **4.4 Limitations of study**

There were three (3) main limitations that were experienced in the conduct of this review, namely the framework of the search strategy which influenced the availability of an adequate number and relevant primary research articles relating to the incorporation of sugarcane bagasse in baked food products such as cookies/ biscuits, bread and cakes; the appropriateness of primary research articles to meet the selection criteria for inclusion in the review for analysis and the high percentage of primary research articles relating to dietary fibre supplementation in baked foods originating from predominantly less developed and developing countries based in Asia such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Iran and Sri Lanka. The framework of the search strategy returned a relatively high percentage of primary

research relating to wheat bran incorporation in foods, other cereal fibres such as barley, rye and oats, fibres from fruits and vegetable parts among others. Approximately less than 5% of the primary research articles were related to the incorporation of sugarcane bagasse in baked foods.

The appropriateness of primary research articles to meet the selection criteria for inclusion in the review for analysis resulted in some potentially interesting primary research studies not being include in the review, namely [7, 35, 59, 63]. Moreover, some of these studies was unable to be placed into sub-groups to facilitate statistical analysis such as [44, 48, 49] among others and therefore there were excluded from the list of included studies of the review. Moreover, primary research studies which utilised arabinoxylan extract as the source of incorporation in baked foods were extremely minimal, namely [35, 63], however both failed to achieved the selection criteria and thus were not selected. Therefore, the analysis of studies with arabinoxylan extract supplemented at a lower percentage was not possible.

The majority of primary research articles originated from developing and less developing countries located in Asia such as [20, 37–39, 45] among others. Thus, studies were able to be analysed from a wider cross-section of laboratory settings.

#### **5. Conclusion**

This systematic review demonstrates the utilisation of a comprehensive research methodology in the selection and examination of fourteen (14) dietary fibre food supplementation primary research studies to provide relevant and impartial new insights of the effects of the incorporation of dietary fibre derived from selected cereals (rice bran and corn fibre) and sugarcane bagasse on the physical and sensory qualities of baked food products: cookies/biscuits, bread and cakes. Arabinoxylansbased dietary fibre sources' roles in food supplementation involves enhancing the nutritive value of ordinary food products; influencing the end quality of baked foods and potentially improving the sensory and physical qualities of baked foods. The supplementation of sugarcane bagasse at both 5% and 10% and rice bran up to 15% into cookies/biscuits resulted in significantly undesirable acceptance (p < 0.05). Corn fibre was supplemented into cookies/biscuits up to 20% and had a favourably significant (p < 0.05) impact on its sensory qualities. It was suggested that enhance moisture content from corn fibre incorporation in combination with its particle size contributed to this desirable outcome.

Sugarcane bagasse incorporation negatively affected the physical qualities of cookies/biscuits. The incremental addition of sugarcane bagasse resulted in a 50% rise in the firmness of 10% enriched cookies/biscuits, from 5.7 5.4 (Kg Force) to 13.0 3.9 (Kg Force). Rice bran significantly increase (p < 0.05) the thickness of cookies/biscuits, from 8.6 1.0 (mm) to 9.9 0.3 (mm), the width and spread factor were similar to control. Corn fibre cookies supplementation did not significantly affect its physical qualities. Rice bran incorporation into bread at 15% showed a significant (p < 0.05) undesirable effect on its sensory qualities. However, the was no significant adverse effect on its physical quality. Corn bran enriched cakes up to 20% fibre incorporation displayed a significant (p < 0.05) favourable effect on the sensory properties of cakes; contrastingly, it resulted in a significant undesirable physical effect on the crust colour of corn bran enriched cakes.

There were four (4) main beneficial implications of dietary fibre food fortification using rice bran, corn fibre and sugarcane bagasse, namely the evidence suggests the enhancement of the nutritive value of foods; allows for the potential production of fibre enrichment foods to cater for particular target groups; dietary fibre enriched foods can be utilised in various food policies with particular outcomes,

such as increasing the fibre intake within the population and using enriched breads and other potentially widely consumed food products as the benchmark for enrichment of other products can facilitate further acceptance consumers. Future research should assess the effects of derived arabinoxylans from selected cereal fibres (rye, sorghum, rice and corn) and energy crop sugarcane fibres on the rheological, sensory and physical effects in muffins production. Updated and accurate rheological properties food supplementation data is important for the food industry.

### **Author details**

Roy Orain Porter Guyana Food Safety Authority, Ministry of Agriculture, Georgetown, Guyana

\*Address all correspondence to: star.troy@yahoo.com

© 2021 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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[48] Pauline, M., Roger, P., Sophie Natacha Nina, N. E., Arielle, T., Eugene, E. E., & Robert, N. (2020). Physicochemical and nutritional characterization of cereals brans enriched breads. *Scientific African, 7*, e00251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf. 2019.e00251

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[52] Ortiz de Erive, M., Wang, T., He, F., & Chen, G. (2020). Development of high-fiber wheat bread using microfluidized corn bran. Food Chemistry, 310, 125921. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.125921

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[55] Zidan, N., & Eldemery, M. (2016). Utilization of defatted black rice bran in wheat bread preparation for enhancing nuritional and functional properties. *Journal of Food and Dairy Sciences, 7*(2), 107-117. https://doi.org/10.21608/ jfds.2016.42819

[56] Sozer, N., Cicerelli, L., Heiniö, R.- L., & Poutanen, K. (2014). Effect of wheat bran addition on in vitro starch digestibility, physico-mechanical and sensory properties of biscuits. *Journal of Cereal Science, 60*(1), 105-113. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jcs.2014.01.022

[57] Mishra, N., & Chandra, R. (2012). Development of functional biscuit from soy flour & rice bran. *International Journal of Agricultural and Food Science, 2*, 14-20.

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#### **Chapter 3**

## Honey Production Process

*Emek Dümen, Nadide Gizem Tarakçı and Gözde Ekici*

#### **Abstract**

Honey has been considered as a very important and superior nutrient in human nutrition since ancient times due to its ability to be consumed by humans without processing, easy digestibility, nutritional properties and biological benefits. Although honey contains many desired bioactive and antibacterial substances, which may be sufficient for antimicrobial activity, it cannot be produced in sufficient quantities due to low water activity under normal conditions. This causes various food and bee-borne spores/non-spores pathogens going viral. Hence, it may cause the risk of parasitological and fungal agents to be found. In honey production, "Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)" must be applied meticulously and completely. Current technologies in honey production will be explained in this section.

**Keywords:** honey production, microbiological risks, HACCP

#### **1. Introduction**

Honey consumption has a very old history for humans. It has been used as a sweetener and flavoring in countless food and beverages. Since ancient times, honey has been known for its nutritious and therapeutic aspects. The most important components of honey are carbohydrates, which are found in the form of fructose, glucose, disaccharides, and oligosaccharides, and components such as maltose, isomaltose, maltulose, sucrose provide the sweet taste to honey. It also contains enzymes such as amylase, oxidase peroxide, catalase and acid phosphorylase, including anderosis and panoz. Also, honey is rich in amino acids, minerals, antioxidants and various phytochemicals [1]. Many of the reported biological properties of honey, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungicidal, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive, antiproliferative, hepato-protective properties of these components are associated with presence of these properties. However, the composition of honey largely depends on a number of factors, such as flower source, geographical region, climatic conditions, harvesting season, processing and storage conditions. There are studies that report that honey, administered alone or in combination with traditional therapy, may be useful in the treatment of chronic diseases that are commonly associated with oxidative stress and the state of inflammation [2]. Honey is classified according to various criteria. In this classification, honey is classified as secretion honey (such as pine honey, oak honey, fir honey, leaf honey) and flower honey (linden honey, cotton honey, trirose honey, thyme honey, mashed honey, acacia honey, heather honey, etc.). According to the form of marketing, framed comb honey, natural comb honey, partial comb honey, cut-comb honey, strained honey, crystallized honey, creamed honey, pressed honey, chunk honey (strained with comb or comb with strained), filtered honey and baker's honey. According to

the moisture content, honey is classified as grade 1 honeys (humidity below 17.8%), grade 2 honeys (humidity up to 18.6%) and grade 3 honeys (humidity up to 20%). According to their color, honey is classified as white, golden, amber and dark. The color of honey can vary from light water white to black warehouse [3]. The physical and chemical properties, antimicrobial effects, which are of great importance for public health, and GMP and HACCP systems applied in the production process and microbiological dangers will be addressed in this section.

#### **1.1 Physical and chemical properties of honey**

Honey contains about 200 substances and is a nutrient consisting of substances such as carbohydrates, water, enzymes, free amino acids, essential minerals, vitamins, phenolic compounds, volatile compounds (monoterpenes, benzene derivatives) and some other solids. Carbohydrates in honey are mainly monosaccharides, glucose and fructose. This is followed by disaccharides and trisaccharides. They contribute mainly to the energy value. Proteins include enzymes such as invertase, diastase, glucose oxidase, catalase, peroxidase and acid phosphatase, and their content varies from 0.1% to 3.3% depending on the type of honey. It contains essential and non-essential amino acids, but the most common amino acid in honey is proline, which accounts for 1% of honey components [2]. Honey contains tocopherol (E), anti-hemorrhagic vitamin (K), ascorbic acid (C), thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5) and a small amount of vitamin pyridoxine (B6). Vitamins of the B complex and vitamin C are mainly derived from pollen and can be affected by commercial and industrial processes such as filtration or oxidation reactions [4].

Honey has a slight acid reaction due to about 0.57% organic acids. Acids contribute to the aroma and antimicrobial activity of honey. The predominant acid in honey is gluconic acid, it is followed by aspartic citric, acetic, formic, fumaric, galacturonic, malonic, formic, acetoglutaric, glutamic, butyric, glutaric, propionic, pyruvic, glioxia, 2-hydroxybutyric, a-hydroxiglutaric, isocyric, lactic, malic, methylmalonic, kynic, succinic, tartaric, oxalic acid [2]. The mineral content in honey ranges from 0.04% in light honey and 0.2% in dark honey. Potassium is the most abundant element. But the main bioactive molecules contained in honey are represented by polyphenols. Polyphenols are a heterogeneous chemical compound that can be divided into flavonoids (flavonols, flavones, flavanols, flavanones, anthocyanin, calcones and isoflavones) and non-flavonoid (phenolic acids). The profile of polyphenolic compounds in honey is thoroughly studied and includes vanillin, caffeic, syringing, p-gamic, ferulic, ellagic, 3-hydroxybenzoic, chlorogenic, genistic, gallic and benzoic acids and contains different phenolic acids, such as different flavonoids, mainly quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin, chrysin, galangin, hesperetin. The amount and type of polyphenols largely depends on the flower source or the variety of honey. In addition, it is known that there is a strong relationship between antioxidant activity and total phenolic content [5].

#### **1.2 The importance of honey in terms of health and its antimicrobial effect**

Honey is a food that has been used in therapeutic treatments for thousands of years. Among other useful properties to health, this product has been reported as a promising agent for wound healing, including leg ulcers and eyes, skin disorders by in vitro and clinical studies. In studies on New Zealand manuka honey, unique to the New Zealand, positive effects were observed on the viability of potentially useful *Lactobacillus reuter* and *Bifidobacterium longum* found in the human intestine. Moreover, it was found that *Salmonella enterica* Typhimurium, an enteric

#### *Honey Production Process DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99439*

pathogenic bacterial type, showed a 65% reduction in their proliferation. In this sense, it has been established that manuka honey has a beneficial effect on the intestine by producing acid metabolites that reduce the intestinal pH and prevent pathogenic colonization and hence support the growth of bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria. Honey has been reportedly able to modulate oxidative stress and also has anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-metastatic properties. The anticancer effect of honey is connected to the presence of natural bioactive compounds, mainly such as pinobanksin, pinocembrin, luteolin, chrysin, salicylic acid and 3.4 dihydroxybenzoic acid [6, 7]. Some of the vitamins contained in honey are ascorbic acid, pantothenic acid, niacin and riboflavin. Moreover, it is a food that also contains minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. Its rich variety of vitamins and minerals also plays a role in increasing the antioxidant characteristics of honey. The presence of free radicals and reactive oxygen types is responsible for pathogenesis of aging, as well as cellular dysfunction, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Consumption of foods rich in antioxidants can protect against these pathological changes, preventing the pathogenesis of chronic ailments [8].

Various parameters such as low water activity, high sugar content, acidity and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content, phytochemicals, peptides, non-peroxidase glycoeptides and proteins make up the antibacterial potential of honey. Water activity of honey varies from 0.56–0.62. These values might be considered low enough to prevent the development of bacteria or other microorganisms [9]. Although previously it was believed that the only responsible agent for the antibacterial effect of diluted honey was H2O2 and that this antibacterial effect can be completely eliminated through catalysis, it has been found out that bacteria can also be affected via the existence of pythochemical elements present in honey [10]. As it suppresses the activities of bacteria causing infections in urinary systems, such as *E. coli* and *Proteus* species and *Streptococcus faecalis*, diluted honey is used to treat urinary system infections and it inhibits toxin production [11]. Undiluted honey hinders the reproduction and development of bacteria due to the content of sugar, which exerts osmotic pressure on bacterial cells and causes water to flow out of bacterial cells through osmosis. Thus, the cells shrink due to dehydration, and they cannot remain alive in hypertonic sugar solution. The optimal pH necessary for the development of most microorganisms ranges from 6.5–7.5. The pH value of honey is between 3.2–4.5, and this value is a very distinctive feature of its antibacterial activity. This acidity is caused by the presence of certain important organic acids, especially gluconic acid - in 0.5% (a/h) concentration. Glycogenic acid is produced from glucose oxidation by an endogenous enzyme of glucose oxidase and is an extremely powerful antibacterial agent. In undiluted pure honey, low pH can contribute to antibacterial action, but when the product is diluted pH alone is not enough to prevent the development of bacteria [9]. The formation of H2O2 is a dominant mechanism in which honey exerts bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity. It provides antibacterial activity of honey and is produced enzymatically. The enzyme glucose oxidase is inherently inactive in honey due to low pH conditions, and glucose oxidase is activated when honey is diluted. However, it is known that concentrations of H2O2 are adversely affected by various minor components, such as nectar, pollen, and yeast. It has also been reported as having high sensitivity to light and light sources [12]. Honey contains relatively small amounts of proteins, whose molecular weights range from 20 to 80 kDa, ranging from approximately 0.1% to 0.5%. These proteins contain many enzymes involved in sugar metabolism, such as alpha and beta glucosidase, glucose oxidase and amylase. Numerous studies have shown that important royal jelly proteins have antimicrobial and anticancer activity and anti-inflammatory potential [13].

Honey shows antibacterial activity against a large number of bacteria in different environments. Natural components of honey have antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial activities. It has been reported that the antibacterial activity of honey is also likely to depend on the pasture, climatic conditions, and also on the natural composition of flower nectar. Honey has excellent antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant *Staphylococcus aureus* (MRSA), often associated with wound and burn infections, and *Pseudomonas* spp. Many studies have shown that honey is also effective against hemolytic streptococci and vancomycin resistant enterococci. Twenty-one kinds of honey tested for antibacterial activity against *Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus*) and *Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa*), and it has been established that they have a positive effect due to H2O2 and polyphenolic content levels. The effectiveness of free radical cleansing is observed in all kinds of honey. In addition, honey tested by freezing, drying and powdering has been reported to show antioxidant activity in each form [9, 14]. Flavonoids contained in the natural composition of honey is also known to be effective against microorganisms that are present in the tissue of chronic wounds, in particular *S. aureus*, *P. aeruginosa*, as well as *Escherichia coli (E. coli*). Flavonoids are often recommended as a natural source to control chronic inflammatory diseases, the incidence of which increases significantly. Despite the fact that the topical application of honey for medicinal purposes is old, there are a small number of studies that address its anti-inflammatory activity at the cellular level. Although flavonoids are small components of honey, their anti-inflammatory effect is extraordinary compared to other natural compounds [15]. Honey was found to have a preventive effect on about 60 bacteria such as*, Bacillus anthracis, Corynebacterium diptheriae, Haemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella, Mycobacterium tuberculosis*, and many aerob and anaerob bacterial types. In vitro studies of *Helicobacter pylori* in the human digestive system have shown that when using honey, its activity decreases by 20%. It has been reported that honey can be used in combination with antibiotics to produce a synergistic effect of bactericidal activity against *Helicobacter pylori*. The main difference of honey with antibiotics is that it does not develop antibiotic-resistant bacteria, so it can be used continuously without such risk [16].

#### **2. Other beekeeping products**

#### **2.1 Pollen**

Pollen is the only source of protein found in nature for bees. The amino acids contained in its composition are isolosin, arginine, lysine, histidine, leucine, methionine, treonine, phenylalanine, tryptophan and valine. It is essential for adequate development of their muscles, tissues, secretory glands and other organs in the upbringing of honeybees and its young stages. It is a nutritional source rich in vitamins, proteins, sterols, minerals and lipids. It has been reported that pollen collected by honeybees may have differences in their general chemical composition as a result of supplying from different plants [17].

#### **2.2 Nectar**

Bees have two stomach and they use one of them to perform normal body functions whereas the other to store the nectar they collect. In order to collect nectar found in flowers, bees use rod-like, tubular long tongues. It has been reported that bees can contain about 70 mg of nectar in the stomach they store nectar, and that they should visit 100 to 1500 different flowers to fully fill their honey stomach [17].

#### **2.3 Propolis**

Propolis is recognized as a therapeutic agent due to several reported functional effectiveness. It is known that honey contains phenolic compounds. Propolis contains a higher content of phenolic compounds than honey and shows significantly higher antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Today it is used in industry as a component of confectionery, biopharmaceuticals and cosmetics. It is gaining popularity as a natural preservative and helps to improve shelf life and consumer health as a source of bioactive compounds for food and drinks. However, propolis has a strong and bitter taste, which changes the sensory properties of food due to the high concentration of phenolic compounds. Therefore, the acceptance of foods containing propolis by consumers must be determined by its propolis concentration, which has to be carefully researched so as not to adversely change the sensory properties of such foods [18].

#### **2.4 Bee milk**

The importance of bee milk, one of bee products, was noticed in the 1600s and was given the name "*Royal Jelly*", which means excellent food in English. Bee milk is secreted from the upper jaw (mandibular) and throat glands (hypopharyngeal) of young worker bees of 5–15 days of age. All larvae only in their first three-day period, and the larvae that will become the queen bee are fed with royal jelly during the entire larval and adult periods. Bee milk can be described as food with a peculiar smell and a bitter taste and a mush-like form with bone-like color. It is collected from the cells of larvae of 3–4 days of age of the future queen, or from the cells of queen bees where larvae of 1–2 days are laid after 48–72 hours. It is quite flowing and has yogurt-like consistency but is a homogeneous substance. It has a light beige and yellowish whitish color, a sharp phenolic smell and a distinctive sour taste. Its density is approximately 1.1 g/cm3 and is soluble in water [19].

#### **3. Microbiological risks in honey and honey products**

Although honey is considered a low-risk food due to its antimicrobial and bacteriostatic effects, studies disprove this view. In addition to primary contamination, staff, tools and equipment used in beekeeping and honey production are also a potential source of secondary contamination. In addition, honey, which has the potential to contain many microorganisms as a result of cross-contamination, is among the important nutrients and can indirectly threaten public health. Despite the fact that some types of honey contain H2O2 and benzoic acid and phenolic compounds such as some flavonoids, it can constitute risks for consumer health due to minimal hygiene rules. It is reported that pathogens can be found as causative agents in honey produced without food safety systems. Food-borne pathogens are recognized as an important risk factor for public health in developed and developing countries due to their spread around the world. Viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites and mites are the most common disease factors in beekeeping. Fecal-oral route is an important way of transmission of these diseases. Agents that pollute bees through water and food can be transmitted to larvae by infected bees. Another contamination that may occur in honey is secondary contamination caused by secondary contamination sources such as personnel, tools and equipment [20].

The presence of strains *Bettsya alvei*, *Acosphaera apis* and *Acosphaera* major in honey production can be indicative of improper beehive management practices. Different types of microorganisms such as *Acinetobacter* spp., *Bacillus* spp., *Clostridium* spp., *Corynebacterium* spp., *Pseudomonas* spp. are bacteria that are widely found in the soil. *Brochothrix* spp., *Citrobacter* spp., *Enterobacter* spp., *Erwinia* spp., *Flavobacterium* spp., *Lactobacillus* spp., *Lactococcus* spp., *Leuconostoc* spp., *Listeria* spp. and *Pediococcus* spp. are other bacteria that are likely to be found in plants and plant products. On the other hand, among yeast strains *Saccharomyces*, *Schizosaccharomyces* and *Torula* species predominate in high humidity sugars. Bacterial spores, especially *Bacillus* and *Clostridium*, can be seen in honey. *Clostridium* is an indicator organism that provides evidence of contamination or pollution in honey. *Clostridium botulinum* (*C. botulinum*) spores are usually found at low levels in honey. The presence of *clostridium* spores can be dangerous, especially for children under one year of age. It is known that infant botulism is mainly caused by the consumption of honey contaminated with *C. botulinum* [21, 22]. *C. botulinum* forms 4 different types of neuroparalytic diseases in humans. In addition to infant botulism, they are classified as food-borne botulism, wound botulism, and yet unclassified latent botulism. The most important of them is infant botulism, which occurs in newborn babies of 3–20 weeks. Infant botulism is diagnosed with isolation of *C. botulinum* and toxin in feces. Decreases in sucking and swallowing reflexes of infants can be observed, which is very rarely fatal [23].

One of the animal products that have been the focus of food warnings due to the presence of chemical hazards such as antibiotics or pesticides in recent years are honey and honey products. The source of these residues in honey is mainly due to bee parasites, such as European offspring rot (*Streptococcus pluton*) or American offspring rot (*Bacillus larvae*) and are veterinary drugs that are necessary to treat bacterial diseases. It is known that chemical residues caused by these drugs used to eliminate microbiological risks, lead to such adverse conditions on human health as allergic reactions, bacterial resistance, along with changes of reproductive toxicity [24, 25].

#### **4. HACCP in honey production**

Food safety can be ensured by systematic implementation of all activities in line with a plan. The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) system, as a preventive system for ensuring food safety, controls production at various points throughout the food production, thereby ensuring that the final product complies with legislation. Preliminary Requirement Program must be created first in order to establish the HACCP system in any food business. In this context, the deficiencies of the infrastructure and processes such as water, energy, warehouse, cleaning and sanitation, personnel, environment and equipment hygiene, personnel training and pest control should be addressed. However, it is necessary to plan the process management by writing down the procedures. The processes that need to be addressed afterwards can be sorted as follows; identification of the HACCP team and a clear definition of the task descriptions by making the managerial organization chart, determination of food safety policy by business management, making an understandable description of the products to be produced, determination of the intended usage method, preparation of a flow diagram and placement plan by HACCP team and verification of this plan at site, analyzing hazards and risks, identification of critical control points, making up of critical limits and monitoring procedures, determination of corrective activities for cases where it is necessary, and the proving or verification of the effectiveness of the system [26].

Codex Alimentarius Standard and the European Commission allows nomenclature for honeys produced from certain botanical sources if the product comes from the specified origin and has anticipated physicochemical, organoleptic and

#### *Honey Production Process DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99439*

microscopic properties. The fact that there are different varieties of honey and each has its own production steps, leads to an increase in the limits that need to be controlled. For the import of food products of animal origin, such as honey, EU legislation requires a number of health and national residue monitoring procedures such as HACCP during the production and processing of honey. These requirements are known to be independent of whether honey is organic or traditional. Thus, imported products are intended to meet the standards required for production and trade within EU member countries. Costs, lack of qualified personnel, misinterpretation of EU legislation, lack of laboratory in international standards and improper infrastructure are the main obstacles to being accredited by the EU [27, 28].

Although honey is a product that is part of the low-risk group due to its high sugar content, it should be carefully examined for physical, chemical and biological hazards. In general, the hygiene of the processing area, tool and equipment and personnel in contact with food should be observed as it should be in all food enterprises. Physical hazards such as soil, plant materials, glass materials, tools and equipment are defined as potential hazards to honey. Traces of pesticides and herbicide, beekeeping drugs and antibiotics are chemical hazards. Soil originated *C. botulinum*, the most important biological danger in honey production, is eliminated by the provision of hygienic conditions in the production of honey [29].

General hygiene rules should be applied effectively to prevent physical, chemical, and microbiological hazards. In hives, legally approved preservatives should be used. Insects and mice should be kept away from hives. During transportation, the vehicles should be cleaned well, in case of the presence of dirt left from the previous use. It is necessary to effectively clean the equipment and work area before and after use. Persons involved in the process should wear a separate clothing to protect the product from contamination caused by clothing or individuals. Especially before and after use, cleaning control of filters must be carried out effectively. In the HACCP plan, the purpose of conducting hazard analysis must be effectively controlled. All potential hazards in each step of the workflow process must be identified and the risk and severity of each identified hazard should be assessed. At this point, it is also necessary to determine the sources of dangers. In a study, corrective activities to prevent and/or eliminate hazards were determined and two critical controls points, "filtration/unloading" and "packaging" were pointed out. Examples of forms used in each HACCP plan and all procedures of the HACCP plan must be provided and monitored [26, 30].

#### **5. Conclusions**

HACCP system, which is successfully implemented in the food industry, is the most effective quality system in terms of the supply of safe products. The purpose of the use of HACCP system is to provide reliable food to the consumer with the desired characteristics and quality. Honey production, which is suitable to be affected by climatic conditions, should be made systematic and controllable by removing traditional methods that are difficult to trace. In this context, the creation of honey workflow process, determining potential hazards, and analyzing hazards, taking necessary precautions, recording the system, providing internationally reliable product guarantee is of great importance for public health as well as for the economies of countries. Effective implementation of the HACCP system in enterprises is inevitable so that retrospective monitoring and recall models can be used in the event of any negativity. In the production processes of foods with high nutritional value as honey, all necessary food safety requirements must be met to protect and improve public health.

*A Glance at Food Processing Applications*

#### **Author details**

Emek Dümen1 , Nadide Gizem Tarakçı2 and Gözde Ekici3 \*

1 Food Hygiene and Technologies, Faculty of Veterinary, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey

2 Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey

3 Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Istanbul Kultur University, Istanbul, Turkey

\*Address all correspondence to: g.ekici@iku.edu.tr

© 2021 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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#### **Chapter 4**

## Chocolate: Health, Processing, and Food Safety

*Ahmed Albandary, Fatemah Albandary and Amit K. Jaiswal*

#### **Abstract**

Chocolate is a popular food product internationally, and it is consumed daily. Consuming chocolate has been linked to many human health benefits such as lower cholesterol levels, but there are some negative impacts such as weight gain because of its sugar content. Moreover, food safety issues related to chocolate have existed, and it can be contaminated by any biological, chemical, or physical hazards, which lead to many health issues. Regarding that, this chapter will discuss the benefits and negative impacts of consuming chocolate and provide the process of manufacturing the product.

**Keywords:** chocolate, health benefits, health risks, processing, food safety

#### **1. Introduction**

The cocoa bean is the seed of the cacao tree, it is a tropical plant indigenous to the equatorial regions of the Americas, but currently, it is cultivated in many countries with a warm, tropical climate. Cocoa is the main raw material to produce chocolate, which can value more than \$100 billion [1]. Chocolate history started with the Maya, who were the first people who cultivated the cocoa plant in South America. During that period, chocolate was a cocoa drink prepared with hot water, and it can be flavored usually with cinnamon and pepper [2].

The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, a country on the southern coast of West Africa, is the biggest producer of cocoa beans with more than 2 million tons annually. The national economy of Ivoirians depends on their export revenue from cocoa. Its population is more than 26 million, almost 6 million work in cocoa beans production, and almost 2,034,000 tons were produced in 2021 [1]. Many countries such as Ghana (883,652 tons), Indonesia (659,776 tons), Nigeria (328,263 tons), Cameron (295,028 tons), Brazil (235,809 tons), Ecuador (205,955 tons), Peru (121,825 tons), Dominican Republic (86,599 tons), and Colombia (56,808 tons) [3] that are considered top producers of cocoa come after Cote d'Ivoire.

This chapter is focused on the health benefits of chocolate, processing, type of chocolate, and finally, the safety aspect of chocolate production. Furthermore, the negative impact of chocolate on human health has been discussed.

#### **2. Health benefits**

There are numerous health benefits associated with the consumption of chocolate, which are due to its nutritional contents [4, 5]. A bar of chocolate with a higher number of nutrients has high health benefits, for example, dark chocolate [5], which contains soluble fiber and is rich in minerals. In more detail, a 100-gram bar of dark chocolate with 70–85% cocoa consists of 11 grams of fiber, 67% of the daily value (DV) for iron, 58% of the DV for magnesium, 89% of the DV for copper, 98% of the DV for manganese. So, dark chocolate is the best type with regard to the number of nutrients [6].

Chocolate possesses antioxidant activity, which is very beneficial for human health [5] and can be attributed to the presence of polyphenols, flavanols, and catechins, among others [6]. According to Nora et al. [7], antioxidants play an important role in the enhancement of immunity and for preventing cardiovascular diseases and metabolic diseases including obesity, diabetes mellitus, and some types of cancer. According to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health [8], numerous studies showed a link between consuming chocolate and health benefits. Studies showed that consumption of 6 grams of chocolate daily leads to reducing the risk of heart disease and mortality, which could be due to reduced blood pressure and inflammation.

It is considered that chocolate is one of the 30 best anti-inflammatory foods. It has been observed that inflammation could lead to many health problems, and chocolate works as an anti-inflammatory effect in the human system, subsequently protecting humans against diseases. A study carried out by Creveling [9] found that cocoa polyphenols help to regulate the bacterial composition of the intestine. The author observed that cocoa polyphenols increase the number of good gut bacteria and that trigger this anti-inflammatory response [9].

Consuming chocolate could help in maintaining cardiovascular health. According to a study, carried out on 49 adults (32 women, 17 men) to assess the effectiveness of consuming dark chocolate on cholesterol levels, the results indicated that consuming chocolate that contains plant sterols and cocoa flavanols as a low-fat diet could contribute to cardiovascular health by reducing cholesterol and improving blood pressure [10].

Another study proved that the flavanols in dark chocolate can boost the endothelium, the lining of arteries, which lead to producing nitric oxide that works to send signals to the arteries to relax, which lowers the resistance to blood flow, and as a result of this, it reduces blood pressure [6]. Moreover, a study from Walden University's School of Nursing has been done on participants who eat dark chocolate, and it has been found that consumption of dark chocolate reduces blood pressure [11].

Consumption of dark chocolate improves the function of the brain. A study that was carried out on healthy volunteers confirmed that consuming high flavanol cocoa for 5 days contributes to improved blood flow to the brain. Furthermore, it also helps in improving cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment [6]. Nordqvist [5] referred that researchers from Harvard Medical School indicated that drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day for older people could help in keeping the brain healthy and reduce memory decline. They have found that hot chocolate helped in improving blood flow to parts of the brain where it was needed. A similar study was published in 2014 showed that a cocoa extract that is called lavado could help in reducing or preventing nerve pathways found in patients with Alzheimer's disease and could contribute to slow symptoms such as cognitive decline [5].

Consumption of chocolate also helps to protect human skin against skin disease because of cocoa flavanols [6, 11, 12]. Also, chocolate contains theobromine, which helps pregnant women against complications of pregnancy, which is known as preeclampsia. According to a study that was done on pregnant women, as they were given a higher amount of chocolate, they had a 40% less chance of getting

preeclampsia [13]. Studies also showed that consuming chocolate can help in protection against cancer as Brook [14] indicated in a study, which was published in the Journal of the American Society of Hypertension, that people who consume many flavonoids or antioxidant-rich chocolate have lower chances of developing cancer, compared with those who do not.

#### **3. Side effects associated with chocolate consumption**

As discussed in the last section, there are numerous health benefits associated with the consumption of chocolate; however, there are also some negative effects on human health such as childhood hyperactivity, migraine, and headaches. According to a study conducted in the Bogalusa Heart, to identify the presence of caffeine in children's snacks, the results indicated the presence of a large amount of caffeine in children, which could be due to eating foods such as chocolate [15]. Bruso [16] referred to that according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, approximately 8% of children in the US younger than 18 have hyperactivity at some point. These cases are often treated by behavioral therapy and medication, but some parents resort to changing children's diets by avoiding chocolate in their children's meals. The Medical Center reported that this change is an effective method but only in a small percentage of children [16].

According to Nowaczewska et al. [17], there are 25 studies have indicated the prevalence of chocolate as a migraine trigger. Two studies of them indicated that chocolate is not a migraine trigger because no participant has reported that chocolate is a trigger factor. Also, other studies considered chocolate a migraine trigger in a small percentage of participants (ranging from 1.3 to 33) Nowaczewska et al. [17]. According to Kelishadi [15], there are some authors who say migraine and tension-type headache occur due to the consumption of some type of foods: one of them is chocolate. Also, another study indicated that chocolate could provoke a migraine attack in some patients who think themselves sensitive to it. [15]. An increase in migraines in some people upon eating chocolate could be due to cocoa's tyramine, histamine, and phenylalanine content [5]. It has been also reported that consuming more chocolate could lead to bone health issues. Nordqvist [5] mentioned in a study, which was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, low bone density in older women who consume chocolate every day. Also, it has been reported that some chocolate includes a high amount of heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, which can affect the kidneys and bones [5]. A study found that almost all samples (43 chocolate products) contain more than 0.3 mcg of cadmium per serving, which means more than the recommended level identified by the World Health Organization [5].

### **4. Production of chocolate**

The cacao tree is considered a sensitive plant, and it requires protection from wind and needs shade in its early years [18]. The cocoa tree needs a semi-shaded environment (50% light and 50% shade). In the cocoa plantations, there are many tall trees beside cocoa trees to provide the required shade and shall not prevent the light [19]. The cocoa plant also needs high rainfall and temperatures to grow. Therefore, it can only grow in a narrow band of countries between 20 degrees north and south of the equator [20]. The suitable temperature for growing is between 25 and 27°C (between 77 and 81°F). The tree cannot resist the high dry or wet. The perfect rainfall should be between 1250 and 2500 mm per year. The cocoa tree requires fertile, slightly acidic, and well-drained soil [21].

The wild cocoa tree can grow up to 12–15 m but to make harvesting easier, most farmers grow it to less than 5 m. Regarding blooms, it blooms and bears fruit all year round, which means that the cocoa tree has both flowers and fruits at the same time [21]. Moreover, the most producing period is from October to February and from May to August [22].

The products could be different in many properties such as shape, texture, and size. The length can be started from 15 cm to over 35 cm. One ripe fruit contains 20–75 cocoa beans, the length of each one can be from 1 cm to 3 cm, embedded in a white pulp. The nutritious cocoa bean is considered very high beneficial as it contains fat (50%) and carbohydrates (25%), as well as proteins, theobromine, niacin, vitamins (including A, B1, B2, and B6), and minerals (calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, sodium, and phosphorus) [21].

#### **4.1 Varieties of cocoa**

There are three types of chocolate, which are Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario. These types are dominant varieties [23]. It was named officially in 1753 by the Swedish scientist Carl von Linné [24]. According to the chocolate society [25], the most productive and common type is Forastero beans, which are because of their high yielding in Brazil and W Africa. On the other hand, Criollo and Trinitario beans are better in quality, but they are lower yielding, which made them very expensive.

#### *4.1.1 Trinitario*

This type of cocoa exists on the Island of Trinidad after a hurricane nearly destroyed the local Criollo crops in 1727. As a result, farms are replanted with the Forastero type, which was brought from Venezuela, and cross-fertilized with the native Criollo type [25]. Therefore, a new type appears, which is known now as Trinitario. This type merged the best two types, which are Forastero (which is featured by the hardiness and is very high in yielding) and the Criollo type (which is featured by great taste) [21]. As a result, the Trinitario variety is classified as fine flavor cocoa, but it is less intense than the Criollo type [26]. The properties of this type are usually varied because of the parents as they have different characters, and it can be grown where Criollo cocoa was once grown including in Mexico, the Caribbean islands, Colombia, Venezuela, and parts of Southeast Asia [21]. The percentage of the world's production is uneven regarding the Walter Matter [26] approximately only 5% of the world's production, and according to Bar & Cocoa, proved that the production is less than 10% globally. However, according to the chocolate society [25], this type represents about 12% of the world's cocoa production, and in 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the production represents approximately 10–15%.

#### *4.1.2 Criollo*

This type was cultivated by the Maya more than 2500 years ago. It is considered a high-quality variety compared with others. Also, it is very complex with regard to cultivation and handling; consequently, it represents less than 5% globally, and it is the rarest type [27]. It is cultivated in Central America, northern South America, the Caribbean, and Sri Lanka. It has a delicate and sweet flavor, so it is often mixed with different types because of its rarity and high cost [28]. According to its characteristics, the pods are red or green before ripeness with less than ½ in length, and it has a very accentuated tip at the lower end, marked with 10 deep furrows. Its surface is smooth and round-shaped. Moreover, it is plump with fresh white cotyledons, and it is very easy to ferment [27].

#### *4.1.3 Forastero*

This is the most common type of cocoa, its native most likely to the Amazon basin. These days, it is grown mostly in Africa, Ecuador, and Brazil. It is represented almost 80% of the world's cocoa production, because of its properties, which include hardness, and resistance to diseases. There are many subspecies of Forastero such as Cundeamor and Calabacillo [21]. This type was discovered by the Spanish in the heart of the Amazon [27]. It grows in West Africa and Brazil [26].

#### **4.2 Diseases of cocoa fruit**

#### *4.2.1 Black pod*

It is mostly cultivated cocoa in small labor-intensive farms for less than 2 hectares (5 acres) to protect the product against disease and pests. Even though, still, there are many losses of production globally, which approximately range from 30 to 100%. The most popular diseases of the cacao tree are pod rots. It is called a black pod as a result of fungus (Phytophthora), which spreads very quickly on the pods under rainy and humid climate conditions, with a lack of sunshine, and temperature under 21°C (70 °F). Therefore, control is required by using copper-containing fungicides, and the infected pods should be removed to reduce spread.

#### *4.2.2 Witches' broom*

Witches' broom, which is caused by *Moniliophthora perniciosa*, has a very dangerous effect on products [29]. It is one of the most risky diseases throughout South America. High temperature and high humidity are good environments for this disease. Therefore, it must be following good sanitation and remove any infected materials, which are difficult because it could not show any visible symptoms. Also, fungicides must be used to protect the cocoa [30].

#### *4.2.3 Frosty pod*

This disease is caused by *Moniliophthora roreri* fungus, and it is considered a highly infectious disease that impacts the production of cocoa. It is spread rapidly by water movement, wind, or the movement of pods [30].

#### *4.2.4 Swollen shoot*

This one is only found in West Africa, which is a huge problem in Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Nigeria. It is transmitted by mealybugs. This natively results from trees that grew in the rain forests of West Africa, so it is not native to the cocoa plants [30].

**Table 1** includes the main estimated losses of cocoa production annually because of diseases [31].

#### **4.3 Pest**

There are over 1500 different insects that feed on cocoa; however, there is only 2% of economic importance. Mirid bugs such as Helopeltis are the most common and important insects in attacking cocoa, and the main pest in Malaysia and Indonesia is the cocoa pod borer. The most popular insect pests are including broad mite, flower-eating caterpillars, Helopeltis, and yellow peach moth [31].


*cocoa/pests-and-diseases-of-cocoa.*

#### **Table 1.**

*Estimated losses of cocoa production annually because of diseases.*

#### **5. Processing of cocoa**

#### **5.1 Harvesting cocoa**

The coco plant life on average is 25 years, and the product needs range from 150 and 165 days for complete maturation. There is no specific season for ripening as it can be harvested all year round [19]. Beans grow in pods that sprout out of the trunk and branches of cocoa trees. The size of the pods is almost the same as the football size. The pods start green and then convert to orange, which means they are ripe and ready for harvesting [32].

When the pods are ripe, harvesting should be done manually, as using machines will lead to damage to the tree, the clusters of flowers and pods that grow from the trunk [32], as the tree is weak, which makes the picking a hard job for workers [18]. For picking, workers use short, hooked blades mounted on long poles to reach the highest products [32]. After picking cocoa from trees, it is collected in baskets and transported to the braking operation [32]. In this step, it is split, and the cocoa beans are removed. Pods can contain upward of 50 cocoa beans each [18]. The pods are opened, and the beans are removed within a week to 10 days after harvesting to avoid germinating [33].

#### **5.2 Fermentation of cocoa**

Fermentation of cocoa after harvesting is a critical process [34]. This process leads to getting the aromas to the cocoa and knowing the difference between many types of cocoa. However, for some traditional dishes, unfermented beans are used in parts of Mexico and Central America. The fermentation method could take 2–8 days; it depends on the type of cocoa [18]. It is fermenting the pulp of Forastero type for 5–7 days, and the pulp of Criollo type for 1–3 days [29].

During fermentation, the cocoa beans are placed in large, shallow, heated trays or covered with large banana leaves. If the weather is good, it is heated by the sun with the importance of noticing that it is necessary to move them up frequently to allow the beans to come out for fermentation equally [32]. In this method, the juicy sweating of the pulp is drained and the germ in the seed is killed by the heat, and the flavor will be improved. As well as the color will be changed to brown. This step is implemented in sun-dried or kiln-dried to reduce the moisture content to 6–7 % [29]. Throughout the fermentation of cocoa beans, the top layer of the beans is covered with banana leaves, because the bottom part of the banana leaf consists of natural yeast and microorganisms, which help to strengthen the natural fermentation [18].

#### **5.3 Drying**

After fermentation, a drying process must be implemented, which is an important step to enhance the cacao flavor [35]. The drying is done by the sun, and it should turn the beans as well in this step to be equally dried. It can dry on wooden floors, which can be covered by a sliding roof during rainy weather. Electric dryers are used on large farms [18]. The drying stage period could take between 2 and 10 days in the nature processing [36]. During drying, the color of cocoa beans is changed from reddish-brown to dark brown [18]. As a result of this process, the humidity of the cocoa is reduced from 60% to 7% [35].

In this method, the polyphenol content of cocoa beans is reduced, many numbers have been reported in a review study, which was done by [37], and depending on many studies include a reduction from 77 to 44%, a 72% reduction, a 30% reduction, and a 26% reduction. In addition, sun drying reduces the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of cocoa beans.

However, according to a study that was done by [36] to compare the methods of drying cocoa beans to evaluate antioxidant activity, to determine phenolic compounds and methylxanthine content, and to determine the presence of ochratoxin A, four methods are used:

Dryer with stainless steel platform and plastic roof with UV protection (DP): Artificial dryer, using the wooden platform with an artificial heat source, through forced and heated air circulation with electric resistance and temperature

controlled by a thermostat at 60°C (AD); Traditional dryer in the barge with wooden platform and drying by direct sunlight (TD);

Mixed dryer with stainless steel platform and mobile plastic roof with UV protection for drying coverage and exposure to sunlight (MD).

It has been found that the best method is the traditional drying method, in which drying is by the sun directly to maintain the phenolic compound content in the cocoa beans, as the phenolic compound content is reduced in different methods, particularly in the artificially oven-dried method. Also, the traditional method is the best in retention of cocoa antioxidant activity and the methylxanthine content in dry seeds, which confirm that these chemical compounds are impacted by changing temperature. The reason for the traditional method being the best could be because it uses less than milder temperatures.

#### **5.4 Manufacturing process of chocolate**

#### *5.4.1 Cleaning*

The first process that must be done in the industry is cleaning the cocoa beans probably by using sieves and brushes [19]. There are many cleaning steps to remove any contamination, for example, twigs, stones, and dust [29]. In general, the manufacturing operations are different slightly because of the various types of cocoa trees; however, most industries use similar machines to convert cocoa beans to cocoa butter and chocolate [32].

#### *5.4.2 Roasting*

The roaster step is very important in processing chocolate, and that is done by drying beans at a temperature of 100°C, then roasting beans at a temperature range between 100°C and 160°C. It could be different depending on the type. The balance in roasting is very necessary as increasing it will lead to the bitterness of the beans

and less than required will not improve the aromas [19]. A study [38] has proved that roasting at high temperature influences cocoa beans and has no influence on roasting time. Moreover, roasting at 160°C leads to undesirable burnt odor and flavor and a low acceptability score by consumers. However, roasting at temperature range from 90 to 110°C was acceptable by consumers in appearance, aroma, flavor, texture, and overall quality attributes.

This process develops the aromas and contributes to reducing acidity and astringency, reducing moisture content, deepening color, and facilitating shell removal [29]. Also, roasting is killing any organisms that exist on the bean, which appear in the fermentation process [18]. In this process, it has been found to decrease the flavanols and phenolic content of cocoa beans [37].

#### *5.4.3 Grinding*

The roasting method makes the shells of the cocoa brittle, so it is winnowed to remove the shells of the bean and only cocoa nibs pass through a series of sieves, and this method is called winnowing [29]. In the grinding process, the nibs are ground in a granite stone mill, which crushes the grain and releases the fat or cocoa butter [29]. Cocoa butter is the main ingredient of chocolate [19]. Chocolate consists of both cocoa solids and cocoa butter in almost the same ratio [18].

#### *5.4.4 Coaching*

This process is completed by conche machines. Moreover, this process is developing flavor, aerating, and emulsifying. The required time is 4–72 hours (depending on the desired results, and the machine type plays a major as well). The temperature is between 55 and 88°C (130 and 190 °F) and is controlled regarding the desired flavor and uniformity [29]. In this process, chocolate could lose almost 80% of volatile substances [19].

#### **5.5 Types of chocolate**

There are many types of chocolate that are different in ingredients and characteristics.


### **6. Food safety of chocolate**

Food contamination is referring to food that is contaminated microbiologically, chemically, or physically. That can be done at any stage of food processing such as during storage or transportation [40]. Also, food allergies can be considered a contamination factor [41].

Food safety issues are considered a huge challenge in the health sector compared to those of malaria or tuberculosis [42]. As the person who consumes contaminated food gets food poisoning and starts the poisoning symptoms in hours, and it could need to visit a hospital, particularly the high-risk group, which includes older adults, pregnant women, infants, and young children, and people with chronic disease [43]. Food poisoning includes many common symptoms, which are upset stomach, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever [44]. There are many foods that are linked to food poisoning, which are poultry, raw fruits and vegetables, fish and shellfish, rice, deli meats, unpasteurized dairy, and eggs [45]. Many cases of outbreaks of food poisoning in the United States have been linked to fruits and vegetables in 2018 [46].

#### **6.1 Microbial contamination of food**

Microbial contamination is the most common type of food contamination. It can be done if the food is contaminated by microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, mold, fungi, and toxins. Many reasons lead to microbial contamination that including undercooking chicken, storing and preparing raw foods near to ready-to-eat food, and this leads to cross-contamination [41]. Also, the vectors of biological contamination include food handlers and that can be caused by aerosol droplets from coughing near the production line. Moreover, vectors include packaging materials, equipment, and tools used; an example of this is using the same cutting board and knife in raw food and ready-to-eat food. Contaminated water is also an important factor to cause microbial contamination. Furthermore, pests such as insects and rodents are factors of contamination [40]. Therefore, food hygiene practices must be implemented to prevent contamination that including personal hygiene, separating raw and ready-to-eat food at all stages of processing, washing raw fruits and vegetables, and pest control on the premise [41].

For a long period, it was referred to low-moisture foods, such as chocolate, as a safe product against microbial contamination because of their properties, as the water activity (aw) is below 0.6, which is not an active area for microbial growth. However, the early 1970s were linked to the first outbreaks of Salmonella to low-moisture products such as chocolate, oat cereals, peanut butter, and infant formula. Salmonella was the main pathogen of concern for all of those products [47]. Also, another study that was to identify the emerging hazards related to chocolate products between 2013 and 2018 has concluded that microbiological hazard is 16,49%, and it is the second hazard following chemicals in cocoa from Africa and South America as well [48]. According to the most recent data, it has been shown that a Salmonella outbreak in a brand of chocolate wafers from Poland between December 2020 and early April 2021affected 32 people as announced [49].

Moreover, many reasons cause biological contamination linked to chocolate products, for example, pathogenic microorganisms can be found because of using contaminated ingredients such as milk and sugar. Also, pathogens can be presented because of damage or soiled packaging material because of mishandling at the supplier level. Furthermore, it can be found in returned chocolate products because of mishandling in any area such as retail or during transportation [50].

#### **6.2 Chemical contamination of food**

Chemical contamination is any food contaminated by a chemical agent. For example, food is contaminated by cleaning agents and that can happen when using chemical cleaning during processing or when using chemical cleaning on tools and not cleaning well. Furthermore, there is natural chemical contamination such as toxins in some fish, such as methylmercury [51]. Also, contamination can happen in agriculture production when they spray fertilizers and pesticides close to food when it is growing. Therefore, it must be ensured that chemical agents are away from the food area. Always follow the manufacturers' instructions before using chemicals. Food must be covered when cleaning and dealt only with approved chemical suppliers [41].

There are many potential chemical contaminations related to chocolate that can happen at any stage of the food chain, which includes the existence of environmental contaminants such as pesticides above the allowance level, as well as presence of food additives in dark chocolate or heavy metals or addition of food additives, which are not permitted for use by government regulations [50].

This type of contamination, either industrial contaminants or pesticides, is most commonly related to chocolate products in Africa, South America, and Asia [48]. Another study proved that some cocoa products exceed the European Union and Chinese Maximum Contaminant Level regarding arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, which could affect human health [52].

#### **6.3 Physical contamination of food**

Physical contamination of food is any food that contains a foreign object at any stage of the production process. That foreign substance causes health issues for consumers, such as broken teeth or choking [41]. There are many food products recalled every year because of physical contamination, which causes consumers health issues and costs less. There are many real examples from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 2016 product recall list such as "small metal shavings in apple coffee cakes, metal fragments in sugar used in Asian sauce, plastic mesh screen fragments in flour, and pieces of rubber in baby food" [53].

An example of physical contamination in almond processing is that, when the crop is ready for harvesting, the tree is shacked by a tractor machine, which leads to falling of almonds on the ground, which are left for many days to dry. Then, another machine sweeps them into rows so a harvester can pick them up with a series of belts. The almonds are cleaned by the machine and dumped into a bucket in the back of the truck. Then the truck is transferred to the industry to remove the shells and sticks and clean the product. The industry machines can be damaged and worn out, which could lead sometimes to the transfer of small pieces of that machinery into a package. This could include bolts and washers. Therefore, using technology in processing plants is an important role such as using X-rays and sensors and food metal detectors to identify any foreign substance to protect humans' health [53].

#### **6.4 Allergenic contamination of food**

Food allergies are an individual adverse reaction to some food. Food allergens are proteins that can be found in food in huge amounts [54]. Even a small amount of food is enough to impact a person who has a food allergy [41]. According to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland [55], there are 14 named allergens (**Table 2**).

Allergic food contamination can happen when food from the list of food allergies enters or contacts another food. An example of this is using the same container to store pasta that is already selected to store peanuts. Therefore, it must be ensured to

#### *Chocolate: Health, Processing, and Food Safety DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104819*


**Table 2.** *Food allergies products.*

deal only with approved suppliers who take critical control of allergenic contamination. Always separate tools, equipment, and clothes that are used for allergenic foods from other foods. Separate allergen in storage from other foods. Cleaning must be implemented properly in the area after the use of one of the 14 allergen products.

Many food safety concerns can be avoided when implementing an effective prerequisite program that includes cleaning and sanitation, staff training, maintenance, chemical control, waste management, and storage and transportation [56]. Hygiene must be implemented in the chocolate industry to provide safe products to protect consumers [57].

It should provide maintenance of food equipment and infrastructure; this can be done by regularly auditing all equipment used in the chocolate factory and fixing any problem, which could post hygiene issues and food safety. Also, hygiene must be maintained during maintenance and the equipment cleaned after that and sanitized before using it again, and the product carefully protected from any foreign body. For the infrastructure part, it should follow a regular check to protect the production area from any issues such as soil and dust to keep the environment safe and hygiene. Any repair must be done outside of production periods, but if that is not possible, a separation wall must be set to protect the production area [57].

Also, it must follow cleaning and disinfecting daily in the industry and removing any undesirable substances such as residues and foreign bodies, which could affect the hygiene of products or equipment. Also, it must separate chemical agents apart from food products to prevent cross-contamination, and all storage should be cleaned regularly [57].

In general, food industries, particularly the chocolate industry attracts insects and rodents through the odors as this place is seen as a great environment for insects because of the presence of food and water and shelter. Therefore, pest control must be implemented effectively, and auditing inspection should be followed regularly and correct any failure related to that. Moreover, it must protect the chocolate production from any contamination, so it should set rules for staff working and visitors

#### *A Glance at Food Processing Applications*

such as regularly washing their hands and wearing gloves, mouth masks, hairnets, and clean disinfected clothing [57]. Regarding peanuts and other nuts, they should be segregated as much as possible. It should clean any machine correctly during changing from nut products to other products and must refer to the label that this industry is processing nuts. A further step that should be implemented is using a metal detector to ensure that the product is free from any foreign body such as plastic or other [58].

Furthermore, applying a Hazard Analytical Critical Control Point is required to prevent any type of contamination as this system is to reduce or prevent any risks early before it happens [56]. A Critical Control Point (CCP) is referred to as a step that can be applied, and it is a necessity to prevent or reduce food safety hazards. Most steps include a heating, cooking, or cooling stage. Examples of critical control points in chocolate production include roasting cocoa at temperatures between 105°C and 120°C and at specific times to eliminate pathogens. The further step is metal detection.

Also, there are many control points in chocolate production, for example:


#### **7. Conclusions**

In conclusion, cocoa is an important product globally as it provides many health benefits for people such as reducing the risk of heart disease, reducing blood pressure, and working as an anti-inflammatory substance. However, consuming too much could lead to many negative impacts on human health such as diabetes or overactivation for children because of the presence of caffeine and weak bone for elderly people, subsequently should avoid eating a lot of chocolate. Also, more research is needed to establish more health benefits. Chocolate is considered a lowrisk product, but there are many contaminants linked to it, which could cause many health issues; therefore, good hygiene practices and the HACCP system should be followed to provide safe products.

### **Conflict of interest**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **Author details**

Ahmed Albandary1 \*, Fatemah Albandary2 and Amit K. Jaiswal3

1 Food Services Department, Quality Assurance and Food Safety Unit, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia

2 Independent Researcher, Saudi Arabia

3 School of Food Science and Environmental Health, College of Sciences and Health, Technological University, Dublin, Ireland

\*Address all correspondence to: a.albandary1990@gmail.com

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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