Food Chemistry 145 (2014) 765771

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Food Chemistry
journalhomepage:www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem

Improving halva quality with dietary fibres of sesame seed coats

and date pulp, enriched with emulsifier
a,

Mohamed Elleuch
, Dorothea Bedigian , Bouthaina Maazoun , Souhail Besbes ,
d
a
Christophe Blecker , Hamadi Attia
a

Dpartement de Biologie, Unit Analyses Alimentaires, Ecole Nationale dIngnieurs de Sfax, Route de Soukra, 3038 Sfax,
b
Tunisia Research Associate, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, USA
c
Confiserie TRIKI-Le Moulin, Route de Gabes, 3052 Sfax, Tunisia
d

Unit de Technologie des Industries Agro-alimentaires, Facult Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux, Passage des dports, 2, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium

article info
Article history:
Received 18 March 2013
Received in revised form 2 May 2013 Accepted 20 August 2013
Available online 3 September 2013
Keywords:
Date pulp
Dietary fibre
Emulsifier
Halva
Sesame seed coats
Value-added food

2009
;
Souk
1. Introduction
oulis,
Lebe
Dietary fibre is the food fraction thatsi, &
evades
hydrolysis,
diges-tion
andTzia,
absorption in the small intestine and 2009
achieves at least one of the following ).
functions: increases the faecal bulk,How
stimulates colonic fermentation, reducesever,
postprandial blood glucose and re-ducesthe
preprandial cholesterol levels (Elleuch et al.,amo
2011). Interest in the role of dietary fibres in unt
health and foodstuffs has prompted a wideof
range
of
research
and
receivedfibre
considerable public attention. It hasthat
important therapeutic utility and offers can
protective health benefits. Dietary fibres can be
also impart some functional properties to adde
foods, e.g. increase water holding capacity,d is
oil holding capacity, emulsification and/or finite
gel formation. The food industry has drawnbeca
upon these functional properties of fibres to use it
improve the viscosity, texture, sensorymay
characteristics and shelf-life of theircaus
products (Praznik, Cieslik, & Florkiewicz, e
2002; Syago-Ayerdi, Brenes, & Goi,unde

abstra
ct
Supplementa
tion of halva
with
waste
products of
manufacturin
g,
for
example
defatted
sesame seed
coats (testae)
and
date
fibre
concentrate,

sirable changes to the

colour and texture of foods.
The literature contains
many reports about the
addition of dietary fibre to
food products such as
baked goods, beverages,
confectionery, dairy, frozen
dairy, meat, fish, pasta and
soups (Elleuch et al.,
2011).

Correspo

nding author. Tel.:

+216 41 689 626;
fax: +216 73 465
404.
E-mail
address:
elleuch5@yahoo.fr
(M. Elleuch).
0308-8146/$ - see
front matter 2013
Elsevier Ltd. All rights
reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.10
16/j.foodchem.2013.0
8.085

can improve its nutritional and organoleptic

qualities. These constit-uents provide high fibre
content and technological potential for retaining
water and fat. Standard halva supplemented with
date fibre concentrate, defatted sesame testae and
emulsifier was evaluated for oil separation, texture
and colour changes, sensory qualities and
acceptability to a taste panel. Addition of both fibres
with an emulsifier, improved emulsion stability and
increased the hardness of halva signifi-cantly. The
functional properties of sesame testae and date
fibres promote nutrition and health, supplying
polyphenol antioxidants and laxative benefits.
2013 Elsevier Ltd.
All rights reserved.

By-products
of
processing fruits and
oilseeds, cheap and
easily generated in
great quantity, can
be recovered and
used as value-added
ingredients.
They
supply dietary fibre
as well as bioactive
compounds, such as
the
polyphenolic
antioxidants
sesamin
and
sesamolin (Bedigian,
Seigler, & Harlan,
1985;
Elleuch,
Besbes,
Roiseux,
Blecker, & Attia,
2007; Grougnet et
al., 2012), providing
economic
advantages to the
food, cosmetic and
pharmaceutical
industries. Sesame

(Sesamum indicum L.) seed coats (testae)contri

and date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) fibre butin
concentrates are among the fibre-rich by-g
products which exhibit useful water and oil high
holding capacities; therefore, they can be level
used as ingredients that allow for the s of
stabilisation of foodstuffs rich in water and polyp
fat, in particular, halva (Elleuch et al., 2008;henol
Elleuch, Bedigian, Besbes, Blecker, & Attia,antio
2012). Sesame testae provide additional xidan
medicinal and nutritional enrichment byt-rich

dietary lignans (Bedigian,

2011a,b;
Grougnet, Halva (halaweh,
Magiatis,
Mitakou,
&halvah, from Arabic
Skaltsounis,
2011;halwa), a dense
Grougnet et al., 2006) thatcrystal-lised
paste
also have antimutagenic(tahin, tahini) of
properties
(Lazarou,sweetened sesame
Grougnet,
&seeds is a common
Papadopoulos, 2007; Mak,confectionary food in
Chiu, & Ko, 2011; Sacco &the
Balkans,
Thompson, 2011).

Greece, Tunisia and

across South West
Asia, prepared with
dehulled,
roasted
and milled white
ses-ame
seeds
(tahin),
sugars
(sucrose
and
glucose syrup), citric
acid

766

M. Elleuch et al. / Food Chemistry 145 (2014) 765771

improves
the
and soapwort (Saponaria officinalisorganoleptic, physical and
L.) root (Bedigian, 2004). Roastingnutritional properties of
sesame seeds, the most significanthalva.
step in halva process-ing (Bedigian,
2004; Bedigian, 2011a,b), improves2. Materials and methods
their functional properties, and
increasing
flavour
and
colour,2.1. Samples
improves their sen-sory quality
(Akbulut & oklar, 2009). Dehulling2.1.1. Fibre preparation
testae,
a
removes relatively large amounts of Sesame
anti-nutritional oxalic acid and fibre waste product produced
contained in the testae, which resultsduring the manufac-ture
in lighter coloured, less bitter-tastingof the sesame confection
halva, were supplied by a
seeds.
Tunisian
confectioner,
Some manufacturers add naturalTRIKI-Le Moulin, Sfax.
ingredients to halva to boost flavour,The testae are removed
dehulling
the
colour and emulsion stability, e.g.,after
vanilla, chocolate, al-monds orsesame seeds, prior to
pistachio nuts. Others occasionallythe preparation of the
add the whitening agent titaniumsesame paste (tahini).
dioxide (E171) (Elleuch, Bedigian, &The seed coats were
Zitoun, 2011) and palm oil at the dried for 24 h at 40 LC
kneading stage (Goulas, Zygoura,and milled in a RETSCH
Karatapanis,
Georgantelis,
&SK 1 Centrifugal Mill at
Kontominas,
2007).
Alternative2890 rpm to a particle
sweeteners, such as honey, datesize of less than 1 mm.
syrup and molasses obtained fromDefatting was carried out
a
Soxhlet
grape or mul-berry (pekmez), may beusing
substituted. In Turkey, tahin andapparatus, with n-hexane
pekmez are available for saleas a solvent. Milled testae
separately, and the proportion ofwere re-ground in a
tahin in blending the mixture is inRETSCH Grindomix GM
accordance
with
consumer200 at 5000 rpm to pass
preference (Alpaslan & Hayta, 2002).through a 0.2 mm sieve,
The composition of halva isand then stored at 20 LC
physico-chemical
characteris-tically high in sugarsfor
and
(47.7%), fat (32.4%), and proteinsanalyses
(13.7%), but low in dietary fibresincorporation studies.
fibre
(1.5%) (Goulas et al., 2007). Oil Date
were
exudation
(sep-aration)
duringconcentrates
from
the
storage leads to a dry texture. The extracted
separated oil stains the packagingTunisian culti-var Allig as
described
previously
and reduces marketability.
Ereifej, Rababah, and Al-Rababah(Elleuch et al., 2008), with
modifications.
(2005) showed that the addi-tion ofsome
soy protein concentrate, gelatine,Dietary fibres from whole
glycerol and lecithin to halva did notfruits were extracted with
improve the emulsion stability at 25 boiling water for 15 min,
LC and 40 LC. However, calcium using a magnetic stirrer.
chloride, powdered sugar, GumAfter solubilisa-tion of the
Arabic
and
pec-tin
minimisedsugars (sucrose, glucose
emulsion instability at 25 LC.and fructose), date fibres
Furthermore, 1% or 2.5% of non- and pits were recovered
hydrogenated palm oil increasedby filtration through a 0.2
viscosity of the oil phase andmm sieve. The pits were
contributed to emulsion stability andthen removed. The fibres
prevented oil sep-aration from thewere concentrated by
halva at 25 LC, but not at 40 LC successive rinsing (water
(Ereifej et al., 2005); they concludedat 40 LC) and filtration,
that the mechanism of preventing oil until the residue was free
sepa-ration seems to be related to anof sugars, as described in
2.2.1.
The
increased viscosity of the oil phase. Section
The objective of this research wasresidues obtained were
to determine whether incor-poratingpressed dry, dried in oven
defatted sesame testae, date fibreat 65 LC for 24 h and
concentrate and an emulsifiermilled in a RETSCH SK1
Centrifugal Mill at 2890

rpm, then in a RETSCH

GM 200 Mill at 5000 rpm
until they could pass
through a 0.2 mm sieve,
to recover

the date fibre concentrate, and stored combustion of the sample

at
18
LC
for
subsequentin the muffle furnace at
physicochemical
analyses
and550 LC for 8 h. Fat
content was determined
incorporation studies.
by a Soxhlet extraction
with hexane for 8 h at the
2.1.2. Halva preparation
Sesame paste (tahin) and theboiling point of the solvent
nougat used to produce halva are (6870 LC). The total
mass-produced on an industrial scalenitrogen was assessed
the
Kjeldahl
at the TRIKI-Le Moulin fac-tory, asusing
protein
was
shown in Fig. 1. Tahin was preparedmethod;
using
the
by grinding dehulled roasted whitecalculated
conversion
sesame seeds imported from Sudan.standard
Nougat is an aerated blend of sugarsfactor (6.25). Total dietary
(sucrose
and
glucose
syrup)fibres were determined
containing cit-ric acid and soapwortaccording to the AOAC
root extract. Tahin at 55 LC and enzymaticgravimetric
nougat at 90 LC are blended in a method of Prosky, Asp,
KRUPS Prep Expert Series 9000, for Schweizer, De Vries, and
1 min 50 s at speed setting 1, using aFurda
(1988).
Sugar
kneading hook (these conditionscontent in the clarified
were optimised to approach the halva sample was analysed with
quality produced on the industriala phenol/sulphuric acid
scale). Defatted sesame testae, datereagent (Dubois, Gilles,
fibre concentrate and emulsifier E471Hamilton,
Rebers,
&
(industrial mono-acylglycerols of fattySmith, 1956) according to
acids, characterised by a high meltingthe protocol of clarification
point, 80 LC) were incorporated just defined by the French
after the addition of tahin and nougat.National organization for
This industrially-prepared halva wasStandardisation, AFNOR
then transferred into 200 g plastic(Association Franaise de
containers. Two batches of twoNormalisation).
kilogrammes each were removed for
each
assay.
The
different
formulations are illustrated in Table 1.2.3. Physical analysis
The percentage of dietary fibre was
determined
in
preliminary2.3.1. Particle size
experiments.
distribution of fibres
The
particle
size
distribution
was
2.2. Methods
determined in 100 g of
fibre using a RETSCH
2.2.1. Chemical analysis
Analytical Sieve Shaker
Dry matter was determined byAS
200
Control-g,
oven drying at 105 LC to a con-stantagitated at the rate of 1.50
weight. Ash was quantified bymm/g, at 15 s intervals

for 20 min.
2.3.2. Bulk density
measurement of fibres
Bulk
density
was
calculated as weight of
sample per unit vol-ume
of sample (g/ml).
2.3.3. Water and oil
holding capacities of
fibres
Water holding capacity
(WHC) and oil holding
capacity (OHC) of the
fibres were determined
according to the methods
of
Mac-Connell,
Eastwood, and Mitchell
(1997)
and
Caprez,
Arrigoni, Ama-do, and
Zeukom
(1986),
respectively. The values
were expressed as grams
of water absorbed per
gram of sample for the
WHC and grams of oil
absorbed per gram of
sample for the OHC.
2.3.4. Colour
measurement
Colour measurements
were carried out using a
Konica Minolta CR-300
Chroma
Meter
to

determine L , a and b

values. The L va-lue

indicates colour lightness,
i.e., on a scale of 0100,
a higher number indicates

lighter colour; the a value

gives the span of red
green colour, with a

higher positive a value

signifying more

M. Elleuch et al. / Food Chemistry 145 (2014) 765771

767

White sesame seeds introduced

Sucrose and glucose syrup

introduced

Sieving
Syrup preparation
Water
added

Citric acid
and soapwort
root added

Remove stones/dust by aspiration

Storage of the syrup
Dehulling

Water addition

Heat treatment under vacuum:

Caramelisation
Sieving

Churning
Wash with water
Compressed air
Nougat
Drain and

Sesame seed coats removed

Grinding
Roast (120C)
Sesame paste: Tahin

Emulsifier

s
e
e
d

Dietary fibre
Mix thoroughly

c
o
a
t
s

Dispense into containers

and seal

r
e
m
o
v
e
d

red;
the

b
valu
e
indic
ates
exte
nt of
yello
w
blue
colo
ur,
with
a
high
er
posit
ive

b
repr
esen
ting
mor
e
yello
w.

2.3.5
.
Text
ure
anal
ysis
of
halv
a
A
Text
ure
Proc
edur
e
Anal
ysis
(TPA

Halva
Fig. 1. Halva production at Confiserie Triki Le Moulin (Sfax, Tunisia).

) test was performed using a TA1 2.3.6. Oil separation

Texture
Analyser
(LLOYDtest of halva
Instruments, England) equipped with Halva (20 g) was
to
a 1000 (N) load cell, 0.05 (N) transferred
detection range. An acrylic cylin- centrifuge tubes (50
drical probe (diameter 0.3 mm) was ml), heated to 35, 45,
used to compress the sample to 50%50 or 55 LC in a water
of its original height (25 mm) at abath and centrifuged
speed of 25 mm/min. The Texture at 2000g for 5 min.
Analyser was interfaced with aThe separated oil was
computer, which con-trolled theremoved
with
a
instruments and analysed the data,Pasteur pipette and
using the software supplied bythe percent of oil
Texture
Technologies
Corp.released from the total
Hardness (peak force of firstoil present in the halva
compression cycle), cohesivenesswas calculated.
(ratio of positive areas of second
cycle to area of first cycle) and
adhesiveness (negative force area of
the first byte represented the work
necessary to pull the compressing
plunger away from the sample) were 2.4. Sensory
evaluation
determined.
The
organoleptic
characteristics of the
products were determined by a tenmember expert taste
panel, trained in the
examina-tion of halva.
The panellists were
asked to evaluate the
products for taste,
sight, smell and touch:
colour, hardness, ease
of cut, flavour and
aroma, on a 5-point
hedonic scale ranging
from 5 (very favourable) to 1 (very
unfavourable) for each
sensory characteristic.

768

M. Elleuch et al. / Food Chemistry 145 (2014) 765771

Table 1
Different formulations of halva.
Halva

Control 1
Date fibre
0.30%
0.50%
0.80%
1%
Sesame testae
0.30%
0.50%
0.80%
1%

Tahin

Nougat

Emulsifier

Date

Sesame

(%)

(%)

(%)

fibre (%)

testae (%)

Formulas without emulsifier

53
47
0

52.85
52.75
52.6
52.5

46.85
46.75
46.6
46.5

0
0
0
0

0.3
0.5
0.8
1

0
0
0
0

52.85

46.85

52.75
52.6
52.5

46.75
46.6
46.5

0
0
0

0
0
0

Table 2
Chemical and Physical characteristics of defatted sesame testae, date fibre concentrate and raw halva.
Date fibre
concentrate
b
a

00
c
86.4 1.36
b
1.56 0.08
b
2.54 0.06
a
10.56 0.42
b
0.184 0.003

0.3
0.5
0.8
1

<40 lm
40 to 71
71 to 100

6.1 0.14 a
22.2 0.36a
17.6 0.63

100 to 160

52.25

46.25

1.5

51.75
51.25

45.75
45.25

1.5
1.5

1
2

0
0

51.75
51.25

45.75
45.25

1.5
1.5

0
0

1
2

41.7 1.26
b

160 to 200

b
Taste
WHC (g water/g sample)
OHC (g oil/g sample)

12.1 0.32
a
44.83 0.03
c
7.08 0.01
a
9.4 0.01
Neutral
b
4.61 0.13
b
2.69 0.10

Bulk density (g/ml)

0.672 0.01

Halva
c

94.45 0.11
Dry matter (%)
A
Sugars
A
Total dietary fibre
A
Oil
A
Ash
A
Protein
aw
Particle size distribution

Formulas with emulsifier

Control 2
Date fibre
1%
2%
Sesame testae
1%
2%

Defatted
sesame testae
93.49 0.18
b
1.21 0.08
b
45.32 0.74
a
0.60 0.01
c
22.38 0.58
b

0.68
12.08
c
0.345 0.015
b

8.3 0.12 b
24.1 0.24 a
0.70
17.03
a
41.9 0.93
8.4 0.21

96.54 0.17

42.57 0.65
a
1.72 0.02
c
31.89 1.25
a
1.70 0.05
c
14.70 0.17
a
0.146 0.013
ND
ND
ND
ND
ND

77.15 0.98
a
1.85 0.05
c
17.89 1.07
ND
ND
ND

ND

64.24 0.05
b
2.45 0.01
b
14.46 0.01
Bitter
a
3.52 0.07
a
2.15 0.03
0.766 0.01

2.5. Statistical analysis

All analytical determinations were replicatedfibre

shows
in triplicate, or greater. Values of each significantly (P <
parameter are expressed as the
0.05) higher water
mean standard deviation (x SD). Duncans and
oil
holding
multiple range test provided mean comparisonscapacities
than
with the level of statistical signifi-cance set at P sesame
testae.
< 0.05. Statistical analyses were performed These values are
using SPSS for Windows (Version 13.0).
much lower than
those reported in our
previous
study
3. Results and discussion
(WHC: 15 g water/g
3.1. Chemical characteristics of fibre and Halva sample and OHC: 9
g
oil/g
sample)
Table 2 presents the average composition of (Elleuch et al., 2008).
can
be
defatted sesame testae, date fibre concentrateThis
and halva. As illustrated, sesame tes-tae and attributed to the force
date fibre are good sources of dietary fibre, used in the present
protein and ash. Halva is rich in sugars study to extract, dry
(42.57%), fat (31.89%) and protein, but low in and mill the fibre
dietary fibre (1.72%). Despite the addition ofcompared to the
47% sugars (46.1% dry matter) from nougattreatment used in our
study.
added in the production of halva, only 42.57% previous
Indeed,
fibres
were
were detected (Table 2). This can be explained
by the caramelisa-tion reaction which occurs extracted with boiling
during the heat treatment of the carbo-hydrates water for 15 min
in nougat formation, resulting in the degradation rather than 5 min,
of the sugars and the conversion to otherdried in an oven at
compounds e.g., 5-hydroxy-methyl-furfural and65 LC for 24 h rather
freeze-drying
organic acids (Quintas, Brando, & Silva,than
and
were
ground to a
2007). Date fibre, sesame testae and halva
particle size of less
showed low water activ-ity (below 0.35), which
than 0.2 mm rather
prevents bacteria, mould and yeast develthan into coarse
opment (Elgerisifi, 1998).
particles. Elleuch et
al. (2012) showed
that a decreased
3.2. Physical characteristics of fibres
particle size was
associated
Physical characteristics of date fibre and
sesame testae are pre-sented in Table 2. Date

All given values are means of three determinations standard deviation except L ,

a , b are means of six determinations. Means in a row followed by the same letters
are not significantly different (P > 0.05).
A In % dry matter, ND: not determined

Table 3
Effect of adding date fibre,
defatted sesame testae
and
emulsifier
on
emulsion stability of halva.
Halva

Oil separation (g oil/100 g oil present in the initial sample) at

35 LC

45 LC

50 LC

55 LC

Without emulsifier
Control 1

2.37 0.05

11.32 0.64

25.61 1.10

25.74 1.06

25.629 0.92
a
25.54 1.06
a
25.59 1.10
a
25.77 1.11

25.483 1.06
a
24.709 1.02
a
25.80 0.94
a
24.35 0.89

24.741 0.95

24.85 1.10
a
25.45 1.06

Date fibre
00
0.3%
a
00
0.5%
a
00
0.8%
a
00
1%
Sesame testae
a
00
0.3%
a
00
0.5%
a
00
0.8%
a
00
1%
With emulsifier
a
00
Control 2
Date fibre

2.28 0.07
b
2.27 0.07
b
2.28 0.04
b
2.28 0.06

25.81 0.96
b
25.03 1.21
b
25.61 1.15
b
26.12 1.13

24.95 1.10
b
25.46 0.92
b
25.51 1.05
b
25.77 1.10

14.08 1.03

0.53 0.02
a
0.54 0.04

14.72 0.98
a
15.21 0.96

0.52 0.02

14.71 1.20

25.45 1.04

0.54 0.06

15.55 1.10

25.42 0.96

00
1%
a
00
2%
Sesame testae
a
00
1%
2%

00

All given values are

means of four
determinations standard
deviation.
Means in a column
followed by the same
letters are not significantly
different (P > 0.05).

2.27 0.08
b
2.26 0.05
b
2.27 0.07
b
2.28 0.04
0.51 0.04

with a reduction in the WHC and OHC andRossell,

and
concluded that the de-gree of grinding can Femenia
(2007)
damage the regions of potential water and oil showed a sig-nificant
holding capacities and therefore, decrease thedecrease
in
the
power to hold water and oil. Garau, Simal,WHC
and
OHC

values for orange

peels as the airdrying temperature
increased.

M. Elleuch et al. / Food Chemistry 145 (2014) 765771

containing only fibre was

As regards the sensory quality,higher than the samples
sesame testae gave a bitter taste andcontaining both emulsifier

are characterised by higher L and b and fibre. Indeed, there is

a sig-nificant reduction, up

and lower a values than is date fibre

to 43.7% in the hardness
(Table 2). These values suggest that
values of fibre-for-tified
testae are lighter in colour, more
supplied
with
yellow and less red. Thus, the use ofhalva
testae as an ingredient might notemulsifier compared with
affect the colour of the food producthalva containing only 1%
as much as date fibres may, but theyof fibre. The significant
changes in hardness
could impart a bitter taste.
3.3. Halva properties
3.3.1. Emulsion stability
Table 3 shows the effect of adding
fibre and emulsifier on emul-sion
stability of halva at 35 LC, 45 LC, 50
LC and 55 LC. The addition of fibre
minimised the oil separation and
significantly (P > 0.05) improved the
emulsion stability at 35 LC and 45 LC
compared to control 1 (without fibre
and emulsifier) independent of the
per-centage of the fibre added.
However, fibre addition did not
prevent oil separation at 50 LC and
55 LC. Addition of 1.5% of emulsifier
fur-ther improved the emulsion
stability at 45 LC and 50 LC, independent of the added fibre. At 55 LC,
fibre with emulsifier added did not
prevent oil separation. All these
results can be explained by the
capacity of fibre to hold oil and by the
power of the emulsifier to increase
the viscosity of the oil phase by
causing the solidifica-tion of the oil in
halva, since the emulsifier possessed
a high melt-ing point (80 LC). Ereifej
et al. (2005) studied the effect of
added non-hydrogenated palm oil on
the emulsion stability of halva and
showed that the addition of 1% or
2.5% of non-hydrogenated palm oil
(solid at room temperature) increased
the viscosity of the oil phase and
contributed to the emulsion stability of
halva at 25 LC. They concluded that
the mechanism of preventing oil separation was related to an increase in
the viscosity of the oil phase.
3.3.2. Texture profile analysis
Textural evaluation of halva
containing date fibre, sesame tes-tae
and
emulsifier
for
hardness,
adhesiveness and cohesiveness is
presented in Table 4. There was a
statistical difference between the
halva containing fibre and emulsifier,
and the controls. The addition of date
fibre, sesame testae and emulsifier to
halva led to an increase in hardness
(3.089.38-fold)
compared
with
Control 1. The hardness of halva

769

that were recorded in fat

content and the physical
properties of oil were due
to the fact that the
samples
supplemented
with fibre and emulsifier
contained less oil and/or
contained emulsifier. The
emulsifier, composed of
mono-acylglycerols
of
fatty acids, had a high
melting point (80 LC). This
explained the solidification
of
ses-ame
oil,
attributable to changes in
the physical properties,
such as melting point and
viscosity. The contact of
emulsifier, which is used
to bind together normally
noncombinative
substances e.g., oil and
water, with sesame oil
(liquid
at
ambient
temperature) in-creased
viscosity and solidified the
mixture, an observation
also re-ported by Guneser
and Zorba (2011).
Addition of fibre and
emulsifier also resulted in
a significant in-crease in
adhesiveness
(6.38
25.38-fold), which was
more marked when the
percentage of testae and
date fibre was increased
(Table 4). As for hardness,
significant changes in
adhesiveness could be
related to the physical
properties of the oil when
fibre and emulsifier were
added.
The
cohesiveness
increased as testae, date
fibre and emulsifier were
added (1.842.8-fold) in
comparison to Control 1
(Table 4). Thus, addition
of fibre and emulsifier
improved
the
cohesiveness
of
the
halva.

3.3.3. Colour
measurement
The colour of halva is
one of the main factors by
which consum-ers judge
its acceptability in Tunisia.
It depends on various
factors,
including
the
cultivars of sesame used,
concentrations of tahin
and nougat, pigmentgrade of titanium dioxide,

a whitening agent, and additives,0.3% fibre (Table 4).

such as chocolate. The effects of The redness values
date fibre, testae and emulsifier uponwere
higher
in

to
the
halva colour (lightness L , redness a ,comparison
controls as a result of the

yellowness b ) are shown in Table 4.

fibre added, and this
Significant reductions in the lightness
increase
was
more
va-lue were observed between the
prominent in the samples
control halva, samples supplemented with date fibre (up tosupplemented with date
11.88%), and testae-supplementedfibre (up to 1.7-fold). Note
samples (up to 7.16%) (P < 0.05),that samples formulated
excluding the halva formulated withwith 0.3% date fibre and
0.3% and 0.5% testae do
Table 4
Effect of fibre and emulsifier
additions on textural
properties (hardness,
adhesion and cohesion) and
colour characteristics of
halva.
Hardness (N)
Without emulsifier
Control 1
Date fibre
0.3%
0.5%
0.8%
1%
Sesame testae
0.3%
0.5%
0.8%
1%
With emulsifier
Control 2
Date fibre
1%
2%
Sesame testae
1%

7,63
32.01
42.19
55.68
67.24
33.14
40.78
52.88
71.62
23.57
41.56
48.82
40.28

2%
50,42
All given values are means
of six determinations
standard deviation. Means in
a column followed by the
same letters are not
significantly different (P >
0.05).

not present a significant

difference in the redness
values, compared with the
controls. Significant and
higher reductions in the
yellowness values were
observed
in
halva
supplemented with date
fibre (up to 22.1%) than
halva with testae added
(up to 6.2%), compared
with the controls.

770

M. Elleuch et al. / Food Chemistry 145 (2014) 765771

Table 5
Sensory evaluation of halwa prepared by incorporating date fibre, defatted sesame testae and emulsifier.
Colour
Without emulsifier
Control 1
Date fibre
0.3
0.5
0.8
1
Sesame testae
0.3%
0.5%
0.8%
1%
With emulsifier
Control 2
Date fibre
1%
2%
Sesame testae
1%
2%

Hardness

Easiness to cut

3.37 0.51

3.25
2.56
1.62
1.31

0.38
d,e
0.41
b
0.35
a,b
0.45

2.66 0.86b,c,d,e
2.87 0.8c,d,e
a,b,c
2.25 0.65
a,b
2.12 0.44

3.28
2.92
2.65
2.1

0.39
f
0.43
d,e
0.33
c
0.43

2.71 0.44b,c,d,e
d,e
3.00 0.50
a,b,d
2.33 0.52
a,b
2.05 0.37

2,78 0.69
c,d
2.85 0.55
b,c
2.16 0.75
a
1.415 0.7

3.33 0.86

3.15 0.46
c,d
2.9 0.51

2.25 0.42

c,d

3.16 0.61

2.05 0.49

3.82 0.56

1.61 0.41
a
1.16 0.25

1,81 0.54

1,87 0.23

a,b

c,d

2.95 0.62
a
3.14 0.62
a
3.15 0.41
a
3.33 0.52

3.22 0.54

3.11 0.54
a
3.05 0.63

3.16 0.66
d
3.11 0.60

3.22 0.62

2.83 0.92

c,d

supplements
that
provide
beneficial
3.3.4. Sensory characteristics
dietary fibre and
The effects of date fibre, testae andbioactive
emulsifier supplementation on the sensorycompounds. These
characteristics of halva are presented in Tablefibre-rich commercial
5. As regards colour intensity, the opinions
by-prod-ucts,
provided by taste panellists and those
combined
with

determined with instruments (L ) are inemulsifier, produce

agreement. In-deed, with an increase in thehalva with improved
level of fibre in the formulation, the colour pal-atability
and
scores of halva decreased and this reductiontechnical properties
was more prominent in the samples with date
such as stability,
fibre.
homogeneous
Regarding the hardness and ease to cut
texture, physiological
halva, samples with emulsifier, samples with
functionalities, and
emulsifier + fibre (1%) and samples with fibre
the
supplemental
(up to 0.5%) had higher scores. Thus, the
medic-inal
and
emulsifier, date fibre and testae improved both
nutritional benefits of
hardness and cutting ease. On the other hand,
polyphenolic
halva processed with more fibre using an
antioxidants.
emulsifier that pro-motes lubrication between
fibre components, reduced the hardness.
Acknowledgement
As regards flavour, halva fortified with 2%
The
authors
testae received the lowest favourability rating
thank
TRIKI-Le
from the taste panellists, whereas halva
Moulin
(Sfax,
formulated with 2% date fibre was the most
Tunisia) for supplying
appreciated. One inter-pretation of this result is
halva
that testae may have a bitter taste; it may alsoall
be due to differences in the chemical nature offormulations.
each fibre source (Elleuch et al., 2008, 2012).
The other halva formulations did not show any
significant differences in the flavour appeal.
For overall quality, the most appreciated
sample was halva pre-pared with emulsifier
(3.37 on a 5-point hedonic scale). Halva formulated with emulsifier +1% date fibre or
testae, and halva containing 0.3% and 0.5%
date fibre or testae, also received a high rating.
Overall acceptability was rated as poor in the
case of halva formulated with 1% fibre without
added emulsifier.

Fibres from date fruit pulp and sesame

testae can be recycled as value-added food

Overall quality
b

2.67 0.23b,c,d

3,06 0.49

3.00 0.99
a
3.18 0,37
a
3.12 0.44
a
2.93 0.62

3.12
3.06
2.93
2.87

0.83
b
0.77
b
0,56
b
0.44

2.80 0.50
2.86 0.25c,d,e
a,b
2.46 0.29
a
2.28 0.12

3.16
2.95
2.85
2.93

0.44
b
0.49
b
0.41
b
0.67

2.98 0.24
d,e
2.94 0.25
2.61 0.29a,b,c,d
a
2.29 0,12

3.22 0.94

3.37 0.37

3.22 0.56
c
3.55 0.41

2.85 0.25
2.72 0.17b,c,d,e

3.25 0.63

3.40 0.53

3.00 0.31

3.3 0.48

2.56 0.37

a,b,c

Means in a column followed by the same letters are not significantly different (P > 0.05).

4. Conclusions

2.16 0.59
c,d
2.625 0.52
b,c
2.375 0.74
b,c
2.18 0.53

3.27 0.36

2.66 0.71

3.25 0.71

Taste

b,c

b,c,d

Odour

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