Exploitation of hazelnut, maize germ and sesame seed aqueous extraction residues in the stabilisation of sesame seed paste (tahini)

BACKGROUND: Sesame seed paste is a highly nutritious food product which, upon long-term storage, tends to exhibit undesirable phenomena of oiling-off and particle sedimentation. The ability of rich-in-fibre aqueous extraction powders originating from oleaginous raw materials to enhance the physical stability of sesame paste is investigated in this study. RESULTS: The extraction residues remaining after treating hazelnut, sesame seed or maize germ with aqueous media in order to extract and exploit their oil bodies, were collected, dehydrated and milled into fine powders. The powders were then incorporated at various levels into a commercially available sesame paste product to assess their potential as paste stabilisers against oil separation. The solids from maize germ exhibited the highest stabilising ability followed by the solids from hazelnut. In contrast, the solids originating from the sesame seed were less effective in stabilising the sesame paste. Shear stress-rate of shear measurements of sesame paste incorporating the extraction residue solids were conducted in an attempt to explain the different stabilising behaviour of the three powders. CONCLUSION: The intensity of interactions between the incorporated solids within the sesame paste structure may determine the rheological properties of the blend and hence its stability against oiling-off upon long-term storage. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.