A Pilot Study on Advantages of Prebiotic Vegetable Crisp

Consumption for Health

Chanikan Sonklin

, Benjawan Thumthanaruk

, Jintana Artsanthia

, Nanita Pitplem

and Saifon Mungsoongnem

Department of Industrial Chemistry, Faculty of Applied Science, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North

Bangkok, Thailand

Department of Agro-Industrial, Food and Environmental Technology, Faculty of Applied Science, King Mongkut’s

University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand

Nursing Faculty, Saint Louis College, Bangkok, Thailand

Nursing Department, Saint Louis Hospital, Thailand

Keywords: Vegetable Crisps, Prebiotics, Health.

Abstract: Nowadays, many people including children and the public deny eating vegetables for various reasons, leading

to consumption of crunchy meals such as junk food that contain high calories. Crispy vegetables (veggie

chips), which are produced by a few companies, are limited in a marketplace. Meanwhile, products with

prebiotics are of great interest because it helps prevent constipation. This study developed a prebiotic meal

that is advantageous for health by using inulin. Inulin is a prebiotic food for probiotics or microorganisms that

are beneficial to the digestive organs. Taking inulin might improve the growth of good microorganisms and

reduce the number of bad microorganisms to attack the body. Moreover, probiotics can prevent infection and

strengthen the immune system. This current pilot study aimed to develop a formulation of prebiotic vegetable

crips and investigate the sensory characteristics produced by the product. The selected volunteers were

selected from people who deny eating vegetables with different age groups including children, adults, and the

elderly. The sensory perception analysis of prebiotic vegetable crisps in this pilot study was performed with

42 volunteers. The reliability statistics showed that the Cronbach's alpha was 0.72. The results showed that

80.5% of the volunteers were satisfied with the crisp color, and 85.7% were fond of the texture. Similarly, the

crisp innovation also contributed to produce less bitterness of vegetables (evaluation score: 81.0), no sweet

taste (evaluation score: 76.2), less salty (evaluation score: 83.3), and high overall product acceptance

(evaluation score: 90.4). The sensory perceptions from the volunteers are the main initial information in

developing a healthy and prebiotic vegetable crisp in the next experiment.

1 INTRODUCTION

Inadequate consumption of vegetables may cause

vitamin and mineral deficit. Fruits and vegetables

contain the most important nutrients for human body.

The USDA says that skipping all three meals of fruit

or vegetables gives fewer chances for the body to

absorb important nutrients although free radicals will

be formed normally. Vitamins and minerals are

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required daily by the body to avoid the risk of

developing diseases. Green vegetables and fruits

contain a lot of fibers that are useful for digestive

systems in the body. Dietary fibers can relieve or

prevent constipation, stimulating the muscles of the

digestive tract and reducing pressure in the lower

intestines to prevent hemorrhoids and the risk of

cancer.

The American Institute for Cancer Research

(AICR) released an idea that no food is one hundred

Sonklin, C., Thumthanaruk, B., Artsanthia, J., Pitplem, N. and Mungsoongnem, S.

A Pilot Study on Advantages of Prebiotic Vegetable Crisp Consumption for Health.

DOI: 10.5220/0012016400003576

In Proceedings of the 2nd Bali Biennial International Conference on Health Sciences (Bali BICHS 2022), pages 92-95

ISBN: 978-989-758-625-5

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

percent protective against cancer. However, dietary

fibers can reduce the risk of cancer more than any

other diet. Vegetables contain antioxidants such as

vitamin E, vitamin C, and carotenoids. Without fruits

and vegetables, the body will hardly process calories

and fat. Meanwhile, higher consumption of fruits and

vegetables also decrease calories and fat, except for

consuming “starch” derived from potatoes, beans,

and corn. One of good dietary fiber is that morning

glory is high in nutrients and contains 1.1 grams of

fibers along with essential vitamins and minerals to

the body, especially vitamin A, which helps nourish

the eyes. In addition, spinach is found to contain 1.3

grams of fibers (NRC, 1984), low in calories, and rich

in beta-carotene. Vitamin A helps maintain eyesight.

It also contains substances such as flavonoids that

can fight free radicals. Other than that, Chinese

cabbage is high in fibers around 0.5 g that can prevent

constipation. A pumpkin consists of important

nutrients as many as 2.0 grams of carbohydrates and

2.4 grams of fiber (Glenn R. Gibson et al., 2010). It

is also rich in beta-carotene and Vitamin E that acts

as antioxidants. Potatoes are nutritious vegetables as

well, containing 19.1 grams of carbohydrates and 0.4

grams of fibers per 100 grams. These vegetables

contain important minerals such as potassium and

magnesium, which help lower blood pressure and

prevent constipation (Glenn R. Gibson et al., 2004).

Since potatoes are gluten-free, it is suitable for people

with intolerance to plant proteins or gluten. All these

vegetables can be eaten by children and people alike.

In addition, these vegetables are also used for

cooking and become a source of nutrients that are

beneficial to health.

Prebiotics are a group of nutrients that are non-

digestible in the human body but are degraded by gut

microbiota. It provides health benefits for the host

microbiota. The relationship between prebiotics and

human overall health has received an interest in

recent years. Prebiotics can be a source of food for

the intestinal microbiota, and their degradation

products are short-chain fatty acids that are released

into blood circulation, consequently, affecting not

only the gastrointestinal tracts but also other distant

organs (Davani-Davari et al., 2019). Dietary

prebiotics are typically non-

digestible fiber compounds that are digested through

the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract and

stimulate the growth or activity of advantageous

bacteria in the colon by acting as substrates for them

(Glenn R. Gibson et al., 2017). Prebiotics were first

identified and named by Marcel Roberfroid in 1995

(Hutkins et al., 2016). Depending on the purposes,

they may be categorized as food additives for

marketing purposes. Common prebiotics used in food

manufacturing include beta-glucan from oats and

inulin from chicory roots (G. R. Gibson &

Roberfroid, 1995).

Therefore, this study aimed to develop and

analyze the sensory perception of prebiotic vegetable

crisps containing high fibers with no trans fats and no

sugars for a novel alternative snack for children and

those who like to eat crunchy healthy snacks.

Research Questions. What are prebiotic vegetable

crisps for health?

Objectives. To collect data on healthy food, this

study investigated the advantages of consuming

prebiotic vegetable crisps for health.

2 METHOD

This pilot study was one part of the research and

becomes an initial way to develop alternatives or new

methods of making prebiotic vegetable crisps. It

formulates the development of innovative products

for healthy food, crispy vegetables, and prebiotic

supplements. The populations were children, adults,

and the elderly who deny eating vegetables. The

samples were randomly selected.

2.1 Method of Data Collection

1. A product prototype of veggie crisps was made

by the Faculty of Applied Sciences. Faculty of

Nursing put it to the test and find out the causes

and needs of vegetable consumption among

various age groups.

2. Selection of the binder to form the vegetable crisp

package varied based on two groups. 1.) Group 1

instant starch is tapioca starch, rice starch, corn

starch, and mixed starch (cassava starch, rice

starch, corn starch, and mixed starch with a ratio

of 1:1:3), and the amount of starch type was

adjusted. 2.) The second group consists of

pumpkin, potato, and taro by varying the ratio of

tuberous plants to 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1 by weight.

3. Recipe development and cooking prebiotics with

vegetables varied based on the changing ratio of

the binder as specified in item 1.

4. Properties of vegetable crisps in all conditions

(recipe) were analyzed by studying the effect of

appearance, color values L, a*, b* by a

colorimeter. Crunchiness and texture analyses

were performed by a texture analyzer, and a taste

A Pilot Study on Advantages of Prebiotic Vegetable Crisp Consumption for Health

sensibility test was performed by 42 quasi-trained

subjects (5-point scoring test).

5. Appropriate formulas were selected to analyze

the crunchiness, texture, and acceptance of

vegetable crips statistically using response

surface methodology based on color values.

6. Test the sensory acceptance in terms of taste and

product characteristics from the sample group of

Saint Louis Hospital.

2.2 Data Analyses

Quantitative Data Analysis. Descriptive analysis

was used to identify demographic characteristics

along with the frequency and the percentage of the

frequency.

2.3 Ethics and Consent

Participants were given information about the

objective, the method, and the benefits of this study.

Written consent forms were obtained before

conducting interviews with all participants. The

participants actively gave information about health

and the healthcare system without posing any harms

to them. If participants feel inconvenient with the

questions, then they could say “I don’t want to

answer this aspect”.

3 RESULTS

3.1 Demographic Characteristics

This section describes the sample characteristics in

frequency and percentage. The results showed the

volunteers were 7.1% of males and 92.9% of females.

Most of the age group in the sample was 21-30 years

(31 %), and most of the people held bachelor’s

degrees (54.8%). The occupations of the volunteers

were mostly private company officers, housewives,

and teachers (16.7%). The volunteers obtained under

10,000 baths per month (57.1%). About 57.1% of the

volunteers never had vegetable crisps before. A halal

of the volunteers intended to buy the product (50%)

if the price <50baht; 31% wanted to do the same if

the price was between 50-79 baht. Around 14.3% of

the volunteers wanted to buy the product if the price

was between 80-119 baht; 2.4% of the volunteers

wanted to buy the product if the price was between

120-150baht, and 2.4% were also interested to buy

the product if the price was <200 baht. Most of the

volunteers prefer to buy this product in the future

(88.1%).

3.2 The Quality of Product Testing

Table 1.

Items Level of

erce

tion

Less Moderate High

Color of the

roduct

- 16.7% (7) 83.3%

(

)

Color of

ackage

- 19.0% (8) 80.9%

(34)

Texture of

roduct

- 14.3% (6) 85.7%

(36)

Strong

etable odor

81.0%

(

)

16.7% (7) 2.4% (1)

Bitter taste 81.0%

(

)

16.7% (7) 2.4% (1)

Sweet taste 76.2%

(32)

19% (8) 4.8% (2)

Salt taste 83.3%

(

)

14.3(6) 2.4% (1)

Overview of

roduct

2.4% (1) 7.1% (3) 90.4%

(

)

Appreciating the

roduct

- 7.1% (3) 92.8%

(39)

Loving

vegetables with

rebiotics

4.8% (2) 16.7% (7) 78.6%

(33)

4 DISCUSSION AND

RECOMMENDATION

The results found that the color of the product, the

color of the package, and the texture of the product

were still highly considered of the product. However,

a qualitative report mentions that some of the

volunteers said the meals were not crispy. The

customers’ feedback indicates a further need for

product development focused on the product texture.

The absence of vegetable consumption was found in

different age groups, and this trend was the highest in

the older group. Similarly, Kwon et al. (2020)

mentioned that the consumption of unsalted/non-

starchy fruits and vegetables is less likely found

among people who eat 480.96 g/day of snacks. The

World Health Organization recommends plant-based

diet sample. The World Cancer Research Fund

(WCRF) demands that dietary fiber levels are greater

than plant-based dietary standards (greater than

400g/day of unsalted/no-starch fruit and vegetable

intake). Around 47% of the volunteers were elderly

population. This suggests that additional basic

strategies are necessary to increase the consumption

of fruit and vegetable among elderly. In addition, the

current results are expected to provide the basis for

developing educational programs to improve

Bali BICHS 2022 - The Bali Biennial International Conference on Health Sciences

elderly’s dietary habits. Moreover, probiotics and

prebiotics provide various health benefits to the host

microbiota and are emerging as promising treatments

for many diseases (Wu & Chiou, 2021). Both types

of supplements have the potential to reduce the risk

of cardiovascular diseases by improving levels of

cardiovascular markers such as total low-density

lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-sensitivity C-

reactive protein (hs-CRP.) and certain cytokines

involved in the inflammatory response. The

preventive effects of probiotics and prebiotics can be

seen from balanced structural and functional changes

in the intestinal microflora and maintained immune

homeostasis. Future research can choose a variety of

alternative food and snacks used by many people

who deny eating vegetables. In addition, future

research can investigate texture and nutrients of

veggie crisps in-depth for health.

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A Pilot Study on Advantages of Prebiotic Vegetable Crisp Consumption for Health