# Fresh Broccoli in Fortified Snack Pellets: Extrusion-Cooking Aspects and Physical Characteristics
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Effect of Variables on the Processing of Snack Pellets
The extrusion-cooking process of snack pellets with the broccoli addition was characterized by relatively low energy consumption (Table 1). SME values ranged from 0.014 to 0.124 kWh kg\({}^{-1}\) for snack pellets extruded at varied processing parameters and fresh broccoli addition levels. During snack pellet extrusion-cooking without fresh broccoli, SME increased with an increase in screw speed. In addition, the increase in raw material moisture level caused a reduction in the energy consumption of the process. For these mixtures, we noted \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Fresh** & **Screw Speed** & **Moisture** & **Q** & **SME** \\
**Brocoli** & **[rpm]** & **Content [\%]** & **Content [\%]** & **[kg h\({}^{-1}\)]** & **[kWh kg\({}^{-1}\)]** \\ \hline \hline \multirow{8}{*}{0} & \multirow{8}{*}{80} & 32 & 19.44 \(\pm\) 0.42 & 0.037 \(\pm\) 0.027 \\  & & 34 & 17.60 \(\pm\) 0.14 & 0.053 \(\pm\) 0.023 \\  & & 36 & 15.76 \(\pm\) 0.28 & 0.014 \(\pm\) 0.004 \\  & & 32 & 25.28 \(\pm\) 0.37 & 0.085 \(\pm\) 0.003 \\  & & 34 & 21.28 \(\pm\) 0.14 & 0.108 \(\pm\) 0.034 \\  & & 36 & 23.16 \(\pm\) 0.14 & 0.060 \(\pm\) 0.005 \\  & & 32 & 29.36 \(\pm\) 0.28 & 0.124 \(\pm\) 0.032 \\  & & 34 & 26.32 \(\pm\) 0.14 & 0.025 \(\pm\) 0.002 \\  & & 36 & 24.72 \(\pm\) 0.24 & 0.064 \(\pm\) 0.060 \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{10} & \multirow{8}{*}{80} & 32 & 21.60 \(\pm\) 0.63 & 0.055 \(\pm\) 0.011 \\  & & 34 & 22.48 \(\pm\) 0.28 & 0.066 \(\pm\) 0.005 \\  & & 36 & 21.20 \(\pm\) 0.84 & 0.076 \(\pm\) 0.005 \\  & & 32 & 28.16 \(\pm\) 0.50 & 0.068 \(\pm\) 0.005 \\  & & 34 & 26.64 \(\pm\) 0.83 & 0.059 \(\pm\) 0.004 \\  & & 36 & 27.20 \(\pm\) 0.14 & 0.060 \(\pm\) 0.005 \\  & & 32 & 34.96 \(\pm\) 0.28 & 0.079 \(\pm\) 0.003 \\  & & 34 & 36.72 \(\pm\) 1.20 & 0.024 \(\pm\) 0.007 \\  & & 36 & 35.68 \(\pm\) 0.73 & 0.029 \(\pm\) 0.005 \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{20} & \multirow{8}{*}{80} & 32 & 20.72 \(\pm\) 1.18 & 0.085 \(\pm\) 0.002 \\  & & 34 & 20.88 \(\pm\) 0.48 & 0.048 \(\pm\) 0.010 \\  & & 36 & 19.16 \(\pm\) 0.50 & 0.074 \(\pm\) 0.006 \\  & & 32 & 28.72 \(\pm\) 1.94 & 0.047 \(\pm\) 0.004 \\  & & 34 & 28.48 \(\pm\) 0.28 & 0.084 \(\pm\) 0.003 \\  & & 36 & 25.28 \(\pm\) 0.14 & 0.079 \(\pm\) 0.005 \\  & & 32 & 35.76 \(\pm\) 0.83 & 0.028 \(\pm\) 0.005 \\  & & 34 & 35.04 \(\pm\) 0.42 & 0.055 \(\pm\) 0.009 \\  & & 36 & 33.44 \(\pm\) 0.28 & 0.073 \(\pm\) 0.002 \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{30} & \multirow{8}{*}{80} & 32 & 21.44 \(\pm\) 0.28 & 0.072 \(\pm\) 0.003 \\  & & 34 & 20.16 \(\pm\) 0.24 & 0.073 \(\pm\) 0.006 \\ \cline{1-1}  & & 36 & 19.44 \(\pm\) 0.48 & 0.080 \(\pm\) 0.002 \\ \cline{1-1}  & & 32 & 26.72 \(\pm\) 0.77 & 0.061 \(\pm\) 0.006 \\ \cline{1-1}  & & 34 & 26.64 \(\pm\) 0.48 & 0.068 \(\pm\) 0.006 \\ \cline{1-1}  & & 36 & 26.56 \(\pm\) 1.41 & 0.064 \(\pm\) 0.005 \\ \cline{1-1}  & & 32 & 34.40 \(\pm\) 0.37 & 0.056 \(\pm\) 0.005 \\ \cline{1-1}  & & 34 & 32.96 \(\pm\) 0.97 & 0.055 \(\pm\) 0.002 \\ \cline{1-1}  & & 36 & 31.76 \(\pm\) 0.37 & 0.048 \(\pm\) 0.004 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \(\overline{\text{Q}}\)—processing efficiency; SME—Specific Mechanical Energy.  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Results of extrusion-cooking efficiency and energy consumption of snack pellets depend on broccoli addition level and applied processing variables (n = 3 \(\pm\) SD). the highest and lowest energy consumption values during extrusion. Accordingly, the lowest SME result (0.014 kWh kg\({}^{-1}\)) was recorded for the control sample without vegetable additive processed using the highest level of moisture content (36% at 60 rpm), and the highest SME result (0.124 kWh kg\({}^{-1}\)) was recorded for the sample extruded using 32% of the mixture moisture level at 100 rpm. We also saw that the influence of the fresh broccoli addition on the energy consumption changes during the pellet extrusion process was ambiguous. Following an increase in screw speed, an increase in extrusion energy consumption was observed for mixtures with a 10% fresh broccoli addition and a 32% moisture level.