Product Development of Young Coconut (Cocos Nucifera) Meat Filling for Hopia

Pastry

A Thesis Outline

Submitted to

The Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Southern Leyte State University- Main Campus

Sogod, Southern Leyte

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Justine M. Casinillo

John Snipner P. Pinto

Jamaika L. Omandam

Angelica A. Saure

APRIL 25, 2023

INTRODUCTION

Nature and Importance of the Study

Convenient health foods that impart extra value in the form of nutritious and functional

foods are now the highest priority for local product development in the modern food industry

(Hsieh and Oforio, 2015). Modern consumers are in demand for a year-round supply of high-quality,

varied, and innovative food products due to changed lifestyles, higher incomes, and consumer

awareness.

Baked products are one of the favorite snacks among Filipinos. The addition of functional

ingredients to bakery products has risen in popularity due to their ability to reduce the risk of

chronic diseases beyond their basic nutritional functions (Eswaran, Muir, & Chey, 2013). In general,

baking is referred to as the process by which products are baked through a series of zones at

varying temperatures and levels of humidity. In baking, "buko" and pineapple from the Filipino

market are frequently incorporated into pastries such as boat tarts and pies. This experimental

study focused on nutritional information for consumer needs by creating baked products like pastry

dough and fillings that offer not only superior sensory qualities but also nutritional and functional

benefits in response to the higher demands from consumers who are becoming more health

conscious.

According to foodaciuosly.com, the name ho-pian, which means “good biscuit” in Chinese,

implies that a pastry is filled with a sweet paste and that it is traditionally presented as a gift to

friends and family. Although there are many other types of hopia filling, the two most popular ones

are Hopia mungo, which is made of mung bean paste, and Hopia babpy, which is composed of

candied winter melon, green onions, and hog fat. Red bean and ube are alternative flavors of yam.

There are various variations of the pastry, and the flaky and moon cake-like pastry are the most
well-liked ones. In the previous study (Kremer et al., 2013) it was concluded that the rapid repeated

exposure effects found merited further and more ecologically valid research, such as a classic

in-home-use test with daily intervals between exposures and bread slices eaten in combination with

various types of fillings. Sweet filling was most often used for both bread variants, and the

distribution of fillings was quite similar across the existing hopia pastry.

Coconut fillings are a little-studied product, and very few papers deal with this subject.

Native starches are widely used in industry in order to impart viscosity, texture, and stability to

food products. Their use gives them a "clean" label, and it has been shown that consumers perceive

them as being familiar ingredients and as healthier than their modified equivalents or other

thickeners (Varela & Fiszman, 2013). Two heating steps should be considered when coconut fillings

are formulated: heating during the coconut filling preparation (an intermediate step in industrial

manufacture) and oven heating during the baking of the pastries. Heating affects the quality of the

native starch-based fruit fillings due to the gelatinization and degradation of the starch upon

heating at low pH values. The viscosity of the native tapioca starch paste decreases after heating;

this fact will affect fruit filling applications, leading to textural instability during storage (Biliaderis,

2009; Temsiripong et al., 2017).

Malnutrition causes over half of all child deaths worldwide and significantly increases

human suffering in the Philippines. Malnutrition severely affects the socio-economic development

of a nation because a work force that is stunted both mentally and physically may reduce work

capacity (Dhakar et al., 2011). The goal of conducting this study is to find out consumers’

perceptions about coconut meat used as fillings in pastry products. This will also enhance

everyone's knowledge of the food industry. This study can help the researchers understand how

important it is to be creative and innovative; the farmers find a way to have an abundant source of

income; and the consumers find a nutritious alternative supply of fiber and nutrients. Overall, the
present study is beneficial in many ways, including the study of trends, efficacy, and community

relevance. This makes the present study important from a psychological angle.

Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this study is to develop coconut-based hopia pastries and evaluate

the variations in specific chemical components of commercially utilized coconut meats from various

geographic origins, as these variances may have an impact on the quality of the subsequent coconut

meat-containing goods that are sold on the market.

Specifically, it aimed:

1. To conduct a screening experiment about coconut meat as a filling and to determine the

significant variables that occur.

2. To determine the thickness of its texture and acceptability.

3. To sensory the microbial content of both coconut meat and coconut water (microbial count

and cauliform).

4. To identify and analyze the physicochemical content of both coconut meat and coconut

water (moisture analysis, moisture content, and analysis of the viscosity of the fillings).

Time and Place of the Study

The study will be conducted in the laboratory processing room of the Food Technology

Building at the SLSU-Main Campus in Sogod, Southern Leyte, Philippines, where the laboratory

provides better precision and controls.

Scope and limitation of the Study

The scope of the study will be limited to the development of coconut meat as a pastry

product, including the optimization of coconut-based products, specifically cream-filled fillings. The

variety of coconut that will be used is the young coconut.

Baking - the Indo-European protolanguage term bhõg is where the word bake first appeared. Its

meaning was "to dry things out in an oven."

Coconut - are the seeds of the coconut palm. The round (adult) coconuts are hard, brown, and hairy.

Inside the coconut are deliciously sweet flesh and coconut water that you can consume. (Agiboo

2023)

Denaturation - is the physical change in protein when it is exposed to abnormal conditions in the

environment. Mechanical agitation, heat, acid, high salt concentrations, and alcohol can cause

proteins to denature. (Sandova 2017)

Filling - In something such as a cake, pie, or sandwich, there is a substance or mixture that is put

inside it. Spread some of the filling over each pancake. (Collins 2003)

Gelatinization - indicated that high-pressure resulted in remarkable alternations in the

morphological, structural, pasting, and thermal properties of starch, which was reported to be

achieved in a complete gelatinization. (Li et al.,2018)

Nutrients dense - To maximize the amount of nutrients you take in, it makes sense to spend your

calorie budget wisely by choosing the foods that carry the greatest amount and variety of

nutrients.(Seitz 2023)

Pastry - dough made from flour, salt, a relatively high proportion of fat, and a small proportion of

liquid. It may also contain sugar or flavoring. Most pastry is leavened only by the action of steam,

but Danish pastry is raised with yeast. (Augustyn 2023)

Thermal Reaction - usually trace constituents of the fuel, but they may also be intentionally added

as catalysts or for other purposes during the thermal process. (Vallero 2019)

Utilization - the primary technique wherein success and performance efficiency are determined.

This is especially the case with tools and equipment. (Denton 2023)
 LITERATURE CITED

Hseih, Y-H-P. and Ofori, J.A. (2015). "Innovations in Food Technology for Health, Department of

Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences," Florida State University, Tallahase, Florida

32306-1493 Modern Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 16 (Suppl 1):65-73, Review

Article.

Appaiah, P., Sunil, L., Kumar, P.K., and Krishna, A.G. (2015). Physico-chemical characteristics and

stability aspects of coconut water and kernel at different stages of maturity. Journal of Food

Science and Technology. 52(8): 5196-5203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-014-1559-4

Haminiuk, C.W.I., Maciel, G.M., Plata-Oviedo, M.S.V., and Peralta, R.M. (2012). Phenolic compounds in

fruits-an overview. International Journal of Food Science and Technology. 47(10);2023-2044.

https://doi.org/10.1111/l.1365-2621.2012.03067.x

Mahayothee, B., Koomyart, I., Khuwijitjaru, P., Siriwongwilaichat, P., Nagle, M., and Muller, J. (2016)

Phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and medium chain fatty acid profiles of coconut

water and meat at different maturity stages. International Journal of Food Properties.

19(9):2041-2051. https://doi.org/10.1080/10942912.2015.1099042

Obido, O., Joshua, P.E., and Eze, N.J. (2010). Phytochemical analysis of Cocos Nucefera L. Journal of

Pharmacy Research. 3(2): 280-286.

Luomala, H., Jokitalo, M., Karhu, H., Hietaranta-Luoma, H.-L., Hopia, A. and Hietamäki, S. (2015),

Perceived health and taste ambivalence in food consumption," Journal of Consumer

Marketing, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 290-301. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-11-2014-1233