Consider a new bulgur product with vegetables.

Bulgur is a traditional parboiled durum wheat product that is consumed in Turkey and in the Middle East region. Although there have been many studies undertaken to optimize the process for making the product, the versions of bulgur on the market are very limited.

Turkish scientists wanted to produce a new bulgur product that has a long shelf life and acceptable sensory properties. To do so, they added dried vegetables, such as tomato, green pepper, onion and various spices. The average moisture content of the new product ranged from about 5.5% to 11.5%. The researchers used edible films to coat the vegetables in the bulgur mix in order to control any kind of migration between the vegetables and the bulgur.

The investigators developed a traditional recipe for Meyhane pilaf based on analyses by descriptive sensory panelists. In addition, a cooking method was developed to give the product an optimum sensory hardness. Prepared bulgur samples of 300 g, each containing about 20% coated dried veggies, and an uncoated control were packed by commercial packaging systems.

The packed samples were stored at room temperature for six months. The scientists analyzed the samples' moisture content and sensory characteristics every month. A significant moisture exchange between the bulgur and the vegetables was observed during the first two months of storage. The moisture content of the vegetables increased to 7.6%, while that of the bulgur decreased to 10.4%.

The films had no significant effect on the movement of moisture between the bulgur and the vegetables. However, paired comparison tests with 12 subjects showed that only samples coated with certain films had similar sensory characteristics as the control sample. The scientists have achieved a minimum six months of shelf life for their product.

Further information. M. Hikmet Boyacioglu, Department of Food Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, 34469 Maslak Istanbul, Turkey; phone/fax: +90 (212) 285 6035; email: mhboyaci@itu.edu.tr.

Bulgur is gaining in popularity, and the development of new bulgur offerings would increase consumption of a nutritionally rich product.