Effect of Drying Condition on the Quality of Sea Lettuce (Ulva rigida) and Its Application in Crispy Snack

Abstract

Sea lettuce (Ulva rigida), contains an interesting source of nutrients and other health promotion compounds but it can be decomposed easily because of its high moisture content. The objective of this research was to study the effect of drying condition on the quality of sea lettuce and its application in a crispy snack. The hot air drying process was conducted by using 3×2 factorial in CRD on the effect of three different temperatures; 50, 60 and 70 ºC and two different times at 6 and 8 h. The results showed that temperature and time effected on the physical and chemical quality of sea lettuce. The sea lettuce powder obtained from drying condition at 50 º C for 8 h gave the highest protein and calcium content as 20.60% and 1333.96 mg/100g, respectively. Therefore, the sea lettuce powder from this drying condition was selected to produce a crispy snack. The sea lettuce powder was added to crispy snack at 4 , 6 and 8 % (by weight of flour). The crispy snack without sea lettuce powder served as the control. The increasing in sea lettuce powder caused an increase in protein and calcium contents. Moreover, there were no significant difference (p>0.05) in sodium chloride content. The sensory evaluation revealed that the addition of 6 % the sea lettuce powder received the highest score of all sensory attributes. The overall liking score was like moderately. The result of this research supported the ideas of using sea lettuce powder to develop nutritious crispy snack with consumer acceptability.