Abstract:
Edible food wraps are popular nowadays as they are environmentally friendly and
supply additional nutritional benefits to the consumers’ diets. This study investigated
the potential of developing an edible food wrap from coconut protein isolates and the
applicability of formulated food wrap for different food products. Food wraps from
coconut protein isolates were developed using three levels (10, 15, and 20%) of glycerol,
and the physicochemical characteristics were analyzed and compared to find the best.
According to the results, 10% glycerol added food wrap reported significantly low levels
of moisture content, swelling index, transparency, rehydration ratio, water solubility,
and water uptake ratio compared with other treatments (p < 0.05). The light and water
vapor transmission rates were also lowest in the food wrap made with 10% glycerol. The
antioxidant activity of food wraps was not significantly different at p < 0.05. Food wrap
with 10% glycerol was selected as the best and it was used for two food applications
(sausage and sushi). The suitability of prepared food wrap for sausage and sushi was
compared with commonly available edible casings/wraps, using sensory evaluation (5-
point hedonic test) and other quality characteristics (cooking loss, emulsion stability,
moisture reduction, increment of fat content, microbial analysis, etc). The sensory
evaluation of sausage with food wrap didn’t show significant differences in sensory
attributes except for appearance (p < 0.05), compared to the sausage with edible casing.
Consumer preference for sushi with food wrap was significantly higher compared with
seaweed wrap (p < 0.05). The microbial counts for both sausage and sushi with food
wrap were not beyond acceptable levels during the period of shelf life evaluation. The
study highlights the feasibility of using coconut oil cake as a potential raw material for
protein extraction in food wraps.
