A study of anti caking agent and kinetic drying on production of iInstant powder lekor fritters

Keropok lekor or Iekor fritters is a traditional Malaysian food cuisine which are being consumed as a snack. It is very popular and high in demand mainly in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, especially Kelantan and Terengganu. In order to commercialize lekor fritters out from Malaysia based on ready to eat food, instant powder of lekor fritter can be made. However, in production of instant powder, anti caking usage to avoid clump in powder was rarely been studied..Thus, this study were done to determine the effectiveness of anti caking agent addition to instant powder lekor fritter through physicochemical test, to compare the best formulation of instant powder lekor from different species of fish (SardineIla Aurita) and mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) and lastly to determine the best formulations of instant lekor fritters compared to commercial lekor fritters through sensory tests. Two type of fish which are sardine and round scad were used and mixed with other dry ingredients before went to drying process using vacuum oven. Texture profiling, physico-chemical test were carried out to analyze the aspect of instant powder Iekor fritter and also degree of caking test to know tendency of the powder to become caking. Based on sensory evaluation, four sample of lekor fritter aid with anti-caking agent were chosen which 2 % Cellulose Mackerel, 1.51 % TOP Mackerel, 2 % TCP Sardine and 1.16 % TCP Sardine. Drying rate of the lekor fritter can be analyzed in the graph moisture content against time. 2% Cellulose Mackerel and 1.51% TCP Mackerel has highest moisture loss upon reaching constant drying time. Tricalcium Phosphate shown the higher ability to prevent instant powder lekor fritter from clumpy based in high degree of caking. Instant powder lekor fritter using sardine fish fleshes higher overall acceptability having mean score of 5.92 than mackerel 4.92. Based on scoring an hedonic test for sensory evaluation, formulation of 1.51 % TCP Mackerel has been chosen as the best formulation as panelists like the firmness, light color, crispiness and fishy smell. The findings of this project will provide the fundamental scientific evidence of anti caking effectiveness in production and storage of instant powder and also will help to improve in development of ready to eat food based on fishes and traditional cuisine specifically.