Preparation and standardization of a curry powder from bamboo shoot and mustard green

Curry powder is a mixture of spices that gives whatever dish it is used in a warm and powerful flavour. Bamboo shoots are rich in vital amino acids, selenium, a potent antioxidant, and potassium, both of which are good for the heart. They also have a high protein, moderate fibre, and low fat content. The peppery leaves of the mustard plant, known as mustard greens, are highly nourishing. The major focus of this work was to develop a new curry powder using these stuffs. First raw materials were collected from local market of Jorhat district, Assam. In the preparation process, collected raw materials were peeled, unwanted parts were removed and washed before further processing. The bamboo shoots were grated carefully and kept in shield bottles for fermentation. The fermented shoots and mustard greens were dried in a convective hot air oven adopting the best temperature. The drying behaviour of the stuffs were determined plotting moisture content against time. Dried products were ground carefully and the final samples were prepared by blending at different ratios i.e. Bamboo shoot : Mustard green = 3:7, 4:6, 5:5, 6:4, 7:3 A sensory analysis was conducted using 9-point hedonic scale to overview the colour, texture, taste, flavour, mouthfeel and overall acceptability. From the sensory analysis; the most preferable ratio was determined i.e. 6:4 and further analyses were carried out for the most preferable blended mix. The proximate compositions (carbohydrates, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, moisture, ash) were estimated using standard AOAC methods and it was found that the product contains moderate amounts of fibre i.e. 32.61% and carbohydrate i.e. 33.07%. Less amount of fat was found i.e. 1.19%. In mineral estimation, it was found that the product contains high amount of Potassium i.e. 1050 mg/100gm. To further standardize the product, some quality parameters such as microbial count, bulk density, total water holding capacity, total fat absorption capacity, foaming capacity, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, total tannin were also examined.