Development and Standardization of Functional Bread Fortified with Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia) Powder
Authors: Murarka Shristi , Singh Sury Pratap , Raj Rishabh 
Published: March 2024

The study of bread development was carried out at the Department of food technology, Parul University, Vadodara. The present study focuses on the preparation of functional bread incorporation of bitter gourd powder. The process of bread preparation was standardized by varying the concentration of wheat flour and bitter gourd powder. Innovation in bread production and the inclusion of useful ingredients are essential for the development of functional foods. The greatest processed food industry in India is the bread industry, and the nation's production is continually rising. Momordica charantia (Cucurbitaceae) is a tropical shrub with yellow blooms and green foliage. Bitter gourd has antidiabetic ingredients such as charantin, vicine, and polypeptide-p as well as other generic bioactive ingredients like antioxidants. On the basis of Sensory evaluation, sample T5 was selected. It was found that The addition of 8% bitter gourd powder found to be acceptable with sensory parameters. The present investigation was carried out to study the physical and chemical characteristics of bitter gourd bread. The average proximate constituents such as moisture, carbohydrate, protein, fat, fiber, and ash content were determined of bread which is 33 percent, 74.69 percent, 11.92 percent, 5.22 percent, 4.37 percent, and 3.8 percent respectively. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) of bitter gourd powder bread showed the presence of spectra 3261.63 cm-1 which represent the O-H group, 2934.40 cm-1 are observed which showed C-H group, 1641.04 cm -1 represent C=C group and 1077.89 cm-1 represents C-O group. Minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc of bread were evaluated. The minerals were calcium (16.0mg), iron (9.59mg), magnesium (14.81mg) and zinc (3.23mg) respectively. The obtained results revealed that the prepared bread sample was good source of carbohydrate, protein, fiber and fat. The selected sample was found to be good source of minerals such as calcium, iron, Zinc and magnesium. Total energy obtained in bitter gourd powder-based bread was 242.82 Kcal/ 100gm. TPC (Total plate count) 7400 cfu/g was observed at refrigeration temperature after 7 days. Bitter gourd powder-based bread was packed in, polyethylene pouches (PEP), and stored under ambient (18-38 oC) and refrigerated (4-7 oC) temperature conditions for 7 days and it was observed that the overall increase in moisture content at the ambient temperature of wheat and bitter gourd powder bread ranged from 33.00 to 33.57 percent whereas, the overall decrease in protein and fat ranged from 11.92 to 11.52 percent and 5.22 to 4.65 percent, respectively. The overall increase in moisture content at refrigeration temperature of wheat and bitter gourd powder bread ranged from 33.00 to 33.24 percent whereas, the overall decrease in protein and fat ranged from 11.92 to 11.74 percent and 5.22 to 4.82 percent, respectively. The Moisture increases more at ambient temperature as compared to refrigeration temperature. Whereas the overall decrease in protein and fat is more in ambient temperature compare to refrigeration temperature. So, refrigeration temperature is more effective for storage than ambient temperature Hence it is finally concluded that prepared product having the good nutritional profile. Utilization of bitter gourd powder for the development bakery food product helps to enhance the nutritional content and health benefits. This type of product development technology helps to improve the market and statistics of bakery industries. The objective of the current study is to improve the health benefits of a traditional bread recipe by including bitter gourd. As a result, it is intended to make bread using a food-based approach and bitter gourd power.