# Impact of Coconut Copra Byproducts Incorporation on Granola Quality Characteristics
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Techno-Functional Characteristics of the Blends
The high-fat content suggests limited water solubility, as fats are generally hydrophobic. However, proteins and carbohydrates may contribute to partial solubility or dispersion in water. Swelling power (SP) measurements ranged from 4.71 \(\pm\) 0.13 g/g DM for CC50/50 BF to 9.23 \(\pm\) 0.21 g/g DM for BF, with pure CC showing the highest capacity for water-induced expansion. At the same time, the addition of BF progressively reduced this property. This pattern suggests that BF incorporation could help control product expansion during processing, which was also suggested by [PERSON] et al. (2017) [24] and [PERSON] et al. (2021) [25]. The results demonstrate that blending CC with BF creates materials with intermediate functional properties, allowing customization based on specific application requirements. The CC75/25 BF blend, in particular, showed balanced characteristics that could be advantageous for granola applications, combining the beneficial properties of both ingredients while moderating their extreme values. The foaming/emulsifying characteristics of coconut copra and banana flour blends are presented in Figure 3.  
The foaming and emulsification characteristics of coconut copra (CC) and its banana flour (BF) blends were analyzed to understand their functional behavior in food systems. Foaming capacity (FC) values ranged from 52.0 \(\pm\) 0.0 to 60.0 \(\pm\) 1.4 mL, with pure BF showing the highest capacity to form foams. Foam stability (FS) demonstrated high but similar values across all samples, ranging from 95.2 \(\pm\) 1.3 to 97.4 \(\pm\) 1.4%, except for pure BF, which showed the lowest foaming stability \(-\)84.2 \(\pm\) 2.0%. Pure CC exhibited the highest stability, while the blends maintained relatively similar stability values, indicating that adding BF did not significantly compromise foam durability. Notably, CC50/50 BF showed intermediate stability (96.2 \(\pm\) 0.0%). Isolate protein from copra meal analyzed by [PERSON] et al. (2024) [29] was characterized by an FS of 68%, which is significantly lower than CC flour values observed by us, while [PERSON] et al. (2022) [30] reported copying FS results for coconut protein. Emulsifying activity (EA) values varied from 4.9% \(\pm\) 0.1% to 10.5% \(\pm\) 0.8%, with the CC75/25 BF blend demonstrating the highest emulsifying capacity. The CC50/50 BF blend showed slightly higher EA (9.4 \(\pm\) 0.2) than pure CC (8.9 \(\pm\) 0.0), suggesting that specific blend ratios might enhance emulsification properties. Emulsion stability (ES) remained relatively consistent across all samples with CC, ranging from 6.5% \(\pm\) 0.4% to 7.3% \(\pm\) 0.5%. The CC50/50 BF blend showed slightly higher stability than other samples, though differences were not statistically significant. For the pure BF sample, the ES was the lowest at 7.3% \(\pm\) 0.5 %, confirming the significant contribution of coconut copra lipids in stable emulsion formation. In the study by [PERSON] et al. (2017) [PERSON] et al. (2017), EA for banana flour was a maximum of 9.3%, and ES 24.7%. While the EA value was similar to those obtained by us for the CC/BF blends, the ES value was over three times higher than for the sample with the highest value of this parameter--CC50/50 BF. These results indicate that while blending CC with BF generally maintains good foaming and emulsification properties, specific blend ratios can optimize certain functional characteristics. The CC75/25 BF blend offers a particularly good balance of these properties, making it suitable for both foaming and emulsification applications.