Sweet sticky rice puree diet for elderly with dysphagia

Abstract

This research aimed to study the effect of xanthan gum (XG) on physico-chemical and sensory properties of sweet sticky rice puree diet (SRD). The 3 different concentrations of XG at 0.75, 1.00, and 1.25% (w/w) were added to SRD. The results showed that shear stress and shear rate (50 s-1) at 25 °C of SRD with 0.75, 1.00, and 1.25% (w/w) were fitted to the power law model with high determination coefficients (R2 = 0.94 - 0.97). All of the SRD samples showed high shear-thinning behavior (n = 0.18 - 0.21), and the apparent viscosities were in the range of 5.13 to 7.07 Pa.s. Thus, all 3 SRD samples were classified as pureed diet. Sensory evaluation was conducted by 20 elderly people with dysphagia, who classified as an untrained panel. The results showed that texture, color, flavor, taste, and overall acceptability of SRD with different levels of XG were not significantly different (p > 0.05), but SRD with 0.75% XG was selected to be further developed, because it was identified by the elderly people with dysphagia that it was the easiest to swallow puree diet. In addition, the total phenolic content and antioxidant activities by DPPH, FRAP, and ORAC assay of SRD with 0.75% XG were 29.52 mgGAE/100g, 45.16, 88.96, and 497.87 µmol TE/100g, respectively. In conclusion, SRD could improve swallowing safety for the elderly with dysphagia and is able to be classified as a pureed diet following the standards of the National Dysphagia Diet.