Influence of the salt addition on the couscous quality

Lefkir, Samia; Yahiaoui, Karima; Laoufi, Razika; Youyou, Soraya; Ounane, Ghania

Nutrition & Santé
Volume 10, Numéro 2, Pages 81-88
2021-12-31

Influence Of The Salt Addition On The Couscous Quality

Authors : Lefkir Samia . Yahiaoui Karima . Laoufi Razika . Youyou Soraya . Ounane Ghania .

Abstract

Abstract Introduction. Couscous is a product made from durum wheat semolina and water. No other ingredient is added except salt, present in the water of hydration used for the agglomeration of semolina. The effect of salt on the quality of couscous is poorly understood and has never been studied. Objective. The objective of this work is to study the effect of adding salt on the quality of couscous. Material and methods. Two commercial semolina are used. Couscous is rolled by hand. During the couscous manufacture, the rolling yields are determined. After precooking and drying couscous, the particle size analysis enabled us to determine the mean equivalent diameter (D50) and the geometric standard deviation (Sg). To assess the color and culinary quality of couscous, we determine on the dry couscous the: brown index, yellow index, swelling capacity of couscous, caking index and the water solubility index. Results. The addition of salt to the hydration water had an effect on the rolling operation yields. The percentages of couscous and lumps decrease with the addition of salt whereas the percentages of non-agglomerated semolina increase. With regards to the influence of salt on the particle size, the analysis of the results showed that the mean equivalent diameter (D50) decreases with the addition of salt. On the other hand, the geometric standard deviation (Sg) remains unchanged. Regarding the color and the culinary quality of couscous, the addition of salt to the hydration water decreases the brown and yellow indexes, caking index, water solubility index and the swelling capacity of couscous. Conclusion. The study of the effect of salt on the quality of couscous has shown that salt influences the agglomeration of couscous by promoting the formation of fine fractions and improves the coloring and the culinary quality of couscous by improving stickiness.