Development of Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.

) Spread
Ahmad Shakerardekani, Roselina Karim, Hasanah Mohd Ghazali, and Nyuk Ling Chin

Pistachio nut (Pistacia vera L.) is one of the most delicious and nutritious nuts in the world. Pistachio spreads
were developed using pistachio paste as the main component, icing sugar, soy protein isolate (SPI), and red palm oil
(RPO), at different ratios. The highest mean scores of all the sensory attributes were depicted by spreads that were
made without addition of SPI. It was found that the work of shear was 0 to 11.0 kg s for an acceptable spread. Sensory
spreadability, overall texture, spreadability, and overall acceptability were negatively correlated (R > 0.83) with the work
of shear of spreads. The findings indicated that the presence of RPO had a direct effect on the viscoelastic behavior of
the pistachio spreads. The a values, which are related to the green color of the pistachio product ranged from 1.7 to 3.9
for spread without addition of RPO, and 4.0 to 5.3 in the presence of RPO.

Abstract:

Keywords: dessert, red palm oil, sensory, spreadability, texture

The development of pistachio spread would potentially increase the food uses of pistachio and
introduce consumers with a healthier snack food.

Practical Application:

Introduction

S: Sensory & Food

Quality

The pistachio nut (Pistacia vera L.) is a nutritious and popular

tree nut. The split pistachios are consumed as roasted and/or salted
nut snacks. The unsplit form can be used for the production of
pistachio products, such as pistachio halva (Ardakani 2006), pistachio milk (Shakerardekani and others 2012), pistachio butter
(Ardakani and others 2006), and pistachio nut spread. Nut spreads
are spreadable product having at least 40% nut ingredients, which
can be added in various forms, such as whole or pieces of nuts, a
paste, or a slurry (USDA 2006; Nielsen 2010). They are made by
grinding roasted nuts into a paste that can be spread like true butter. The main ingredients of nut spreads are nuts (such as almond,
cashew, hazelnut, macadamia nut, peanut, pecan, pistachio, or walnut), sweeteners (such as natural or artificial sweeteners), vegetable
oils (such as palm oil), and protein sources (such as soy protein isolate [SPI]) (Liedl and Rowe 2007). Hydrogenated vegetable oil is
often used to stabilize spread; however, the trans fatty acids found
in this type of oil have been implicated in coronary heart disease
(Mensink and Katan 1990). Hinds and others (1994) suggested the
usage of unhydrogenated vegetable oil, such as palm oil, which do
not contain trans fatty acids, for peanut butter production.
Analysis of nut spread by sensory and instrumental methods
provides important information to the product developers. In development of pistachio spread, sensory attributes such as aroma,
taste, color, spreadability, and texture are among important factors that determine consumer acceptability. One of the most used
methods, to quantify consumer acceptance, is the 9-point hedonic scale. Hedonic tests have been applied for assessing the ac-

MS 20121337 Submitted 9/28/2012, Accepted 12/18/2012. Author

Shakerardekani is with Iranian Pistachio Research Inst., Rafsanjan, Kerman, Iran.
Author Karim is with Dept. of Food Technology, Faculty of Food Technology, Univ.
Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor. Author Ghazali is with Dept. of
Food Science, Faculty of Food Technology, Univ. Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor. Author Chin is with Dept. of Process and Food Engineering, Faculty
of Food Engineering, Univ. Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor. Direct
inquiries to author Karim (E-mail: rosaz@putra.upm.edu.my).

S484

Journal of Food Science r Vol. 78, Nr. 3, 2013

ceptability of pistachio products, such as raw pistachio (Mexis and

Kontominas 2009; Tsantili and others 2010), roasted pistachio
(Nikzadeh and Sedaghat 2008), and pistachio butter (Emadzadeh
and others 2011).
Spreadability (work of shear), rheological behavior and color
parameters can be measured in the analysis of nut spread by an
instrumental method. Spreadability is an extremely important attribute of spread as it is related to how easy the product is uniformly
distributed over a surface (Daubert and others 1998). Work of
shear has been used to measure the spreadability of jam (Basu and
Shivhare 2010), Misti dahi (Narender Raju and Pal 2009), and
cream cheese (Zheng and others 2007; Brighenti and others 2008).
A study of rheological properties of spreads, such as dynamic oscillatory properties, using a rheometer, will provide information on
the viscoelastic property of the product. Several works had been
conducted on the rheological properties of semisolid pastes, such
as mustard paste (Bhattacharya and others 1999), peanut butter
(Guillaume and others 2001), sesame butter (Akbulut and Coklar
2008), and pistachio butter (Taghizadeh and Razavi 2009).
Taghizadeh and Razavi (2009), in their study on time independent rheological properties of pistachio butter, showed that pistachio butter was a non-Newtonian pseudoplastic fluid (n < 1)
under yield stress ( 0 ). Brighenti and others (2008) reported that
most full-fat cream cheeses showed significantly greater G (storage
modulus) values than did fat-free cheeses at temperatures below
25 C. Recently, no study has been reported on the spreadability and viscoelastic behavior of pistachio products. Color is an
extremely important attribute of most food products because it
usually influences the consumers 1st judgment of the product.
It has been reported that the whiteness of a greenish spreadable
pistachio paste decreased after 8 mo of storage at 20 C due to
degradation of chlorophyll a to pheophytin b (grayish green) and
browning reactions (Gamli and Hayoglu 2012).
Relating of consumer acceptance and instrumental data is essential because consumers can provide information on a products
acceptance or consumer perception of its integrated attributes.
Extensive studies on the correlation of textural characteristics of
peanut butter, using different sensory and instrumental methods,

R

C 2013 Institute of Food Technologists

doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.12045
Further reproduction without permission is prohibited

Development of pistachio spread . . .

Table 1Formulations of pistachio spread using factorial design.
Ingredients (%)

Formulation

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
(1) To evaluate the sensory acceptability of pistachio spread, 8
using a hedonic test;
9
(2) To determine the physicochemical, textural, and rheolog- 10
11
ical properties of pistachio spread; and
(3) To establish correlations between instrumental and sensory 12
13
measurements.
14
15
16
Materials and Methods
17

Pistachio spread preparation

Raw, dried pistachio nuts (Ohadi variety) were provided by
the Iranian Pistachio Research Inst. (Kerman, Iran). The method
of preparation was according to the production of peanut soy
spreads (Dubost and others 2003) with some modifications.
Pistachio kernels (7 kg) were roasted using a hot air oven (UNB
500, Memmert GmbH, Schwabach, Germany) at 134 1 C
for 30 minutes. The roasted pistachio kernels were ground in a
Supermass Colloider (Masuko, model MKZA6-5, Japan) that was
set at a stone clearance of 20 m at 1000 rpm. The following
ingredients were added to the pistachio paste according to the
formulations, as shown in Table 4: icing sugar (Prai, Malaysian
Sugar Mfg. Co. Bhd., Malaysia), SPI (Gushen, Gushen Biological
Technology Group Co., Ltd., Shandong, China), and red palm
oil (RPO; Carotino, Carotino Sdn. Bhd. Johor, Malaysia). The
mixture of pistachio paste, icing sugar, and RPO was blended
in a laboratory blender (Waring, Model HGBTWT, Torrington,
Conn., U.S.A.) at low speed for 3 min. Pistachio spread samples
(each 600 g) were prepared in triplicate, filled into a polypropylene
plastic container (8 cm height, 11 cm dia) with lid and stored at 4
2 C for not more than 3 d. Prior to analysis, the samples were
removed from the chiller and kept at 20 2 C for 1 h.
Sensory evaluation using hedonic test
Sensory evaluation of pistachio spreads was performed, using
the 9-point hedonic test. Thirty-two untrained panelists (11 male
and 21 female), comprising of students and staff of the Faculty of
Food Science and Technology, Univ. Putra Malaysia, participated
in the test. The test was conducted at the Sensory Laboratory,
Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Univ. Putra Malaysia
in 2 sessions. Samples for testing were taken out of the chiller
and allowed to stand at 20 2 C for 1 h before preparation.
About 10 g of each spread were placed in polypropylene containers
(4.5 cm in dia and 3.3 cm height) fitted with lids and labeled with
a 3-digit random code number. Nine samples were evaluated in
Session 1, whereas another 8 samples were evaluated in Session 2.
All samples were randomly served to the panelists.

Pistachio
paste
(PP)
70.0
87.5
62.5
50.0
70.0
50.0
62.5
70.0
58.3
41.7
58.3
50.0
60.0
83.3
50.0
58.3
62.5

Icing
sugar

Soy
protein
isolate
(SPI)

Red
palm
oil
(RPO)

10.0
12.5
12.5
30.0
30.0
10.0
37.5
10.0
8.3
25.0
25.0
30.0
20.0
16.7
21.4
25.0
12.5

0.0
0.0
0.0
20.0
0.0
20.0
0.0
20.0
16.7
16.7
16.7
0.0
10.0
0.0
14.3
0.0
25.0

20.0
0.0
25.0
0.0
0.0
20.0
0.0
0.0
16.7
16.7
0.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
14.3
16.7
0.0

(20 2 C) for at least 1 h prior to analysis. The work of shear of

samples was measured according to Ahmed and Ali (1986) with
some modifications. A spreadability cone probe (P/45C) with 45
mm dia was fitted into a crosshead of a Texture Analyser (TA-XT2i
Texture Analyser, U.K.). The probe was set to move at a speed of
3 mm/s and to make a 2.3-cm penetration. This was done only
once per sample. The work of shear was calculated, based on the
mean areas of the force versus time curve. Three replications were
performed for each sample.

Dynamic oscillatory property

The oscillatory stress sweeps were performed at a constant angular frequency of 1 Hz in a stress range of 0.5 to 500 Pa. The
oscillatory frequency sweeps were performed at 20 C over a frequency range of 0.1 to 16 Hz at constant stress amplitude of 150 Pa.
The viscoelastic parameters, including the storage modulus (G )
and the loss modulus (G ), were determined. The measurement
was carried out in triplicate.
Color of pistachio spread
The color of roasted whole kernel, ground kernel, and pistachio paste was measured using an Ultrascan PRO Spectrocolorimeter (A60-1012-402 Model Colorimeter, Hunter Lab,
Reston, Va., U.S.A.). Twenty grams of sample were spread in the
glass container of the Hunter Lab instrument before the measurements were made. Parameters determined were the L value (lightness/darkness), a value (greenness/ redness), and b value (blueness/yellowness). The analysis was replicated 3 times.

Experimental design
Pistachio spreads were prepared using pistachio paste (41.7% to
70%), icing sugar (8.3% to 37.5%), SPI (0% to 25%), and RPO (0%
to 25%). A full factorial design was applied to create the different
formulations of pistachio spread (Table 1). The analysis of variance
Work of shear of pistachio spread
(ANOVA) was performed using Minitab 16.1.0.0 (Minitab Inc.,
The chilled spreads (25 g 0.1) were placed in plastic cups State College, PA, U.S.A) Tukeys test was applied to detect the
(50 mm dia) and allowed to stand at ambient temperature differences among the pistachio spread samples (P < 0.05).
Vol. 78, Nr. 3, 2013 r Journal of Food Science S485

S: Sensory & Food

Quality

have been conducted (Ahmed and Ali 1986; Johnson 1989). Lee
and Resurreccion (2002) discovered that 12 sensory attributes of
peanut butter were highly correlated (R > 0.88) with at least one
or more of the texture profile analysis parameters obtained using
a texture analyzer. Johnson (1989) was successful in correlating
sensory firmness and oiliness of peanut butter with the depth
of penetration, using a cone penetrometer (R > 0.88), however,
weak correlations (R = 0.53 to 0.85) were observed between back
extrusion force and sensory textural attributes.
This study concentrates on the development of pistachio spread.
Hence, the objectives were:

Development of pistachio spread . . .

Table 2Mean score for sensory attributes of pistachio spreads using hedonic testa (n = 32).
Formulation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

b Taste

Aroma

Color

Spreadability

Overall texture

Overall acceptability

5.5
5.5 0.3bcdef
6.1 0.3abcd
5.0 0.2def
5.9 0.3abcde
5.5 0.3bcdef
6.2 0.3abcd
4.1 0.2f
5.5 0.3bcdef
6.5 0.3abcd
5.1 0.2cdef
7.0 0.2a
6.6 0.4abc
6.0 0.3abcd
6.7 0.4ab
7.1 0.2a
4.4 0.2ef

5.9
6.2 0.3abc
6.3 0.3abc
5.2 0.2bc
5.9 0.3abc
6.3 0.3abc
6.1 0.3abc
4.9 0.2 c
6.2 0.3abc
5.9 0.3abc
5.0 0.2c
6.8 0.2a
6.2 0.3abc
5.9 0.3abc
6.5 0.3ab
6.8 0.4a
5.0 0.2c

6.0
6.0 0.3a
5.9 0.3a
3.7 0.2b
5.2 0.3ab
6.2 0.4a
5.1 0.2ab
3.7 0.2b
6.2 0.3a
5.9 0.3a
4.1 0.2b
6.1 0.4a
5.9 0.3a
4.9 0.2ab
6.1 0.3a
6.3 0.4a
3.8 0.2b

7.1
6.5 0.5abc
6.0 0.3abcd
2.5 0.1g
4.6 0.2de
6.8 0.5abc
4.3 0.2ef
2.6 0.1g
6.6 0.4abc
5.7 0.3bcde
3.0 0.1fg
7.4 0.3a
5.9 0.3bcd
5.5 0.3cde
5.7 0.3bcde
7.5 0.4a
2.7 0.1g

6.3
6.1 0.1ab
5.5 0.2ab
3.7 0.2c
5.1 0.2b
6.5 0.1a
5.1 0.2b
3.3 0.1c
6.2 0.3ab
6.3 0.3ab
3.4 0.1c
6.3 0.3a
6.2 0.3ab
5.6 0.1ab
6.4 0.3ab
6.5 0.3a
3.5 0.1c

6.1 0.1abcd
6.1 0.2abcd
5.8 0.1bcd
4.0 0.2e
5.3 0.2d
6.5 0.1abc
5.3 0.2d
3.3 0.3e
6.1 0.3abcd
6.3 0.3abc
3.8 0.2e
6.7 0.3a
6.5 0.4abc
5.6 0.1cd
6.5 0.1abc
6.9 0.4a
3.7 0.2e

0.3bcdef

0.2abc

0.3a

0.4ab

0.3ab

a
Score 1 = dislike extremely, score 2 = dislike very much, score 3 = dislike moderately, score 4 = dislike slightly, score 5 = neither like nor dislike, score 6 = like slightly, score 7 =
like moderately, score 8 = like very much, score 9 = like extremely.
b
mean standard deviation.
Different letters within the same column is significantly difference at P < 0.05.

Results and Discussion

S: Sensory & Food

Quality

Sensory evaluation using hedonic test

Table 2 shows the mean scores of different formulations of pistachio spread in terms of taste, aroma, color, spreadability, overall
texture, and overall acceptability. Formulations 4, 8, 11, and 17,
which did not contain RPO, had lower mean scores (score of 2.5
to 5.2) for all the sensory attributes tested, indicating that these
samples were neither like nor dislike to disliked very much
by the panelists. This could be due to the ability of the product to
spread easily, which further affected the texture and overall acceptance of the product among panelists, as shown by the lowest mean
scores on spreadability attribute. In the presence of 16.7% to 25.0%
SPI, RPO was required as lubricating agent to form a spreadable
pistachio spread. Furthermore, based on visual observation, in the
absence of oil and presence of excessive SPI, the product was too
dry and brittle, and hence it was unsuitable to be categorized as
spread. As for spreads that did not contain either RPO or SPI,
as in Formulations 2, 5, 7, and 14, the mean scores were in the
range of 4.3 to 6.1 (that is, dislike slightly to like slightly). Formulations 5 and 7 contained a higher amount of icing sugar than
did Formulation 2, which probably contributed to the differences
in spreadability and overall acceptability of the product. However,
in the presence of both SPI and RPO, all the mean scores for
sensory attributes of spread made using Formulations 6, 9, 10, 13,
and 15 were found to be significantly higher, with scores of 5.5
to 6.5 indicating that they scored like slightly by the panelists.
The results clearly showed that the highest mean scores of all the
sensory attributes were depicted by Formulations 1, 3, 12, and 16
spreads that were made without addition of SPI. The scores were
in the range 5.5 to 7.5, denoting that they were like slightly to
like very much. Even though no significant difference was observed in terms of the aroma, color, and overall textural properties
of all these spreads, Formulations 12 and 16 obtained significantly
(P < 0.05) higher scores in terms of taste and overall acceptability
than did Formulations 1 and 3. Both Formulations 12 and 16,
which contained 50% to 58.3% of pistachio paste, 25% to 30%
icing sugar, and 16.7% to 20% RPO were considered as the most
acceptable spread, since no significant difference was observed in
S486 Journal of Food Science r Vol. 78, Nr. 3, 2013

the mean scores of all the sensory attributes studied. The findings of this study indicated that, even though slightly acceptable
spread can be made from pistachio paste, icing sugar, RPO, and
SPI, the most acceptable pistachio spread can be produced without addition of SPI. Other researchers have also shown that SPI
can be added to nut butter and nut spreads such as peanut spread
(Yeh and others 2002), peanut soy spread (Dubost and others
2003), and peanut sesame soy blends (Sumainah and others 2000)
and they remain acceptable. This finding also indicated that the
overall acceptability of spread by panelists was significantly (P <
0.05) influenced by the textural property, especially with regard
to spreadability of the product. On the other words, the score of
overall acceptability was higher when the score of spreadability was
higher.

Work of shear of pistachio spread

Work of shear or area of the force versus time curve has been
used to rank the degree of spreadability in several types of spreadable products (Brighenti and others 2008; Basu and Shivhare
2010). A smaller area (work of shear), that represents the total
amount of force required to perform the shearing process, indicates a softer spread and hence, a higher spreadability (Dubost
and others 2003). Table 3 shows the work of shear for different
formulations of pistachio spread. Formulations 1, 3, 12, and 16
had the lowest amount of work of shear, indicating the highest
spreadability characteristics. This is because all these formulations
contain RPO, which contributed to higher degree of spreadability,
and hence less force was required to spread the products compared
to spread made from Formulations 4, 8, 11, and 17 (without
any RPO), which required a considerably higher work of shear,
that is, in the range of 1600.4 to 3976.6 kg s. According to the
method of Rousseau and Marangoni (1998), spreadability is influenced by the amount of oil in a product. The work of shear for
spreads made without addition of SPI and RPO, as in Formulations
2, 5, 7, and 14, were in the range 181.7 to 3976.6 kg s. A significantly (P < 0.05) higher work of shear (that is, lower spreadability)
was observed in Formulation 7 in comparison to spread made using
Formulations 2, 5, and 14. This could be due to the higher amount

Development of pistachio spread . . .

Table 3Work of shear and dynamic oscillatory property of different pistachio spread formulations.
Formulation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

Work of shear (kg s)

Storage modulus (G )

Loss modulus (G )

Loss tangent (tan )

10
181.7 55.5e
11.0 1.4f
1600.4 102.7c
867.5 21.0cd
77.6 15.4e
3157.3 300.2ab
2647.6 573.8b
113.9 1.3e
311.8 26.1d
3976.6 167.7a
10.8 1.0f
197.2 63.3e
703.2 61.4d
555.5 60.9d
3.3 1.0f
3925.6 496.8a

1.0
673300.0 2263.0d
17.0 1.0d
1183000.0 15556.0d
1081500.0 36062.0d
35.0 4.0d
18540000.0 6830652.0c
62575000.0 201112.0a
48.0 2.0d
38965000.0 381083.0b
304950.0 3182.0d
7.0 0.0d
1118500.0 20506.0d
1025300.0 40588.0d
1477000.0 14142.0d
22.0 1.0d
63155000.0 8492352a

19.0
63340.0 2970.0c
67.0 2.0c
48305.0 7361.0c
66705.0 8181.0c
114.0 8.0c
2319500.0 85560.0c
99395000.0 10047987.0a
134.0 3.0c
54360000.0 8160012.0b
59650.0 877.0c
42.0 0.0c
56400.0 2178.0c
67720.0 9489.0c
53800.0 7481.0c
79.0 3.0c
89730000.0 4921463.0a

14.9 0.3a
0.09 0.0g
3.9 0.1c
0.04 0.0g
0.06 0.0g
3.2 0.1d
0.1 0.0g
1.6 0.1f
2.8 0.0e
1.4 0.0f
0.2 0.0g
6.0 0.0b
0.05 0.0g
0.1 0.0g
0.04 0.0g
3.6 0.1c
1.4 0.1f

0.8f

0.0d

0.0c

Different letters in each column shows significant difference at P < 0.05.

Dynamic oscillatory properties of pistachio spread

Table 3 shows the dynamic oscillatory properties (storage modulus, loss modulus, and loss tangent) of pistachio spreads. All the
spread formulations without RPO or containing less than 16.7%
RPO (Formulations 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, and 17) showed
that elastic behavior was the predominant behavior. An example (Formulation 2) of this behavior is shown in Figure 1. If the
proportion of RPO in the formulations were equal to or more
than 16.7% (Formulations 1, 3, 6, 9, 10, 12, and 16), the viscous
behavior of the spreads increased. An example (Formulation 16)

Figure 1Dynamic oscillatory property of

pistachio spread.

Vol. 78, Nr. 3, 2013 r Journal of Food Science S487

S: Sensory & Food

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of sugar used in making the spread. When the work of shear data,
which reflects spreadability using an instrument, were compared
with the panelists mean score of acceptability on spreadability of
the product, it was found that the work of shear was from 0 to
11.0 kg s for an acceptable spread, between 11.0 and 867.5 kg s for
slightly to moderately acceptable spread, and from 867.5 to 3976.6
kg s for the most unacceptable spread. These findings further
proved that Formulations 12 and 16, with work of shear of 10.8 and
3.3 kg s, were the most acceptable spreads among all the formulations examined.

Development of pistachio spread . . .

Table 4Color
formulations.

attributes

of

different

pistachio

spread

Table 5Pearsons correlation coefficients (>0.500) and P values

for the physical and instrumental measurements and sensory acceptability of pistachio spread.

Color attributes of pistachio spread

Formulation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

L value
34.2 0.2gh
34.5 0.6gh
33.4 0.8h
43.1 1.4b
36.7 0.4ef
43.2 0.9b
38.4 1.4de
44.7 0.2b
40.4 0.3cd
43.9 1.2b
50.2 1.3a
35.3 0.7fgh
39.8 0.5cd
35.3 0.7fgh
40.7 0.6c
36.1 0.5fg
44.1 0.6b

a value
5.3 0.2a
2.4 0.2f
4.5 0.8bcd
3.9 0.1e
2.4 0.1f
5.1 0.2ab
2.4 0.2f
2.3 0.0fg
4.7 0.1bc
4.8 0.2abc
1.7 0.1g
5.4 0.5a
4.0 0.2de
2.1 0.1fg
4.3 0.3cde
4.9 0.2ab
2.5 0.0f

Instrumental measurement

b value
17.4 0.4cde
15.1 0.5fg
15.4 2.2efg
18.9 0.7bc
14.7 0.3fg
20.7 0.6a
14.5 0.7g
15.0 0.4fg
20.2 0.2ab
20.3 0.4ab
15.2 0.9fg
18.4 1.2bcd
18.2 0.5bcd
11.2 0.7h
18.2 1.2bcd
16.5 0.9defg
16.7 0.1def

Sensory attributes
(hedonic test)

Work of
shear

Taste

0.653
(0.005)
0.836
(0.000)
0.867
(0.000)
0.867
(0.000)
0.860
(0.000)

Color
Overall texture
Overall acceptability
Spreadability

a value
0.511
(0.036)
0.681
(0.003)
0.676
(0.003)
0.676
(0.003)
0.700
(0.002)

G

G

0.569
(0.017)
0.553
(0.021)
0.537
(0.026)
0.537
(0.026)
0.569
(0.017)

0.610
(0.009)
0.543
(0.024)
0.532
(0.028)
0.532
(0.028)
0.538
(0.026)

Average was taken for sensory attribute score (n = 32); Values in parentheses are P values.

S: Sensory & Food

Quality

in the presence of RPO. A higher amount of pistachio paste in

the absence of RPO, increased the green color (lower a value) of
the spreads significantly. Even though, Formulations 12 and 16
Different letters in each column shows significant difference at P < 0.05.
have higher a values, due to presence of RPO in the formulation,
these greenish colored spreads were considered acceptable. Since,
of this behavior is shown in Figure 1. These findings indicate there was no significant (P < 0.05) difference between Formulathat the presence of RPO has a direct effect on the viscoelastic tions 12 and 16 in terms of a value, both these formulations were
behavior of the pistachio spreads. Abdul and others (2011) re- selected as acceptable spreads.
ported that lower storage modulus were observed for shortenings
that contained higher amounts of palm oil compared with other Relationship between instrumental parameters and
shortenings made from palm oil and palm stearin. Higher tan sensory acceptability attributes of pistachio spreads
(ratio of viscous behavior to elastic behavior) was found in ForThe relationship between the dependent variables, such as work
mulations 1, 12, and 16 indicating that the viscous behavior was of shear, color parameters, viscoelastic parameters, and sensory
more dominant than the elastic behavior. Formulation 1, which acceptability of spreads is shown in Table 5. The sensory accepcontained the lowest amount of added icing sugar (10%), among tance on spreadability (R = 0.860; P = 0.000), overall texture
these formulations, showed the highest viscous behavior, as re- (R = 0.867; P = 0.000), and overall acceptability (R = 0.867;
flected by the higher tan value. This result was similar to that P = 0.000) of the spreads were negatively correlated with the
of Johansson and Bergenstahl (1992) who discovered a decrease work of shear. All these sensory characteristics were highly corin G (elastic behavior) and an increase in tan when a lower related with the instrumental measurements of pistachio spreads
amount of sugar was used in the fat and sugar dispersion system. with R > 0.80. Tastes of pistachio spread, using a hedonic test,
It has also been reported that particle size of sugar is an important were moderately correlated with work of shear (R = 0.653;
factor that affects both the network strength and extension, with P = 0.005) and a value (R = 0.511; P = 0.036), respectively.
a finer particle yielding a higher elasticity in chocolate (Baldino These results were similar to the findings of Lee and Resurreccion
and others 2010).
(2002) who reported that 12 sensory TPA attributes were highly
correlated (R 0.88) with one or more instrumental texture proColor of pistachio spread
file analyser (TPA) parameters. Muego and others (1990), in their
Table 4 shows the color attributes (L, a, and b values) of dif- attempt to correlate instrumental and sensory analysis of peanut
ferent formulations of pistachio spread. The ranges of L, a, and b butter textures, using different instrumental methods, found that
values were 33.4 to 50.2, 1.7 to 5.4, and 11.2 to 20.7, respectively. correlations varied, depending on the method used and only 2
Generally, the color parameters were influenced by the types and sensory attributes were well correlated (R > 0.90) using a cone
amounts of ingredients in the spread formulations. The highest penetrometer. Johnson (1989) discovered a high correlation coefb value, which indicates the yellowness of the product, was ob- ficient (R > 0.88) between sensory firmness and oiliness of peanut
served in Formulations 6, 9, and 10, due to presence of both the butter using a cone penetrometer; however, weaker correlations
yellowish color of SPI and RPO. The lowest b value was ob- between back extrusion force and sensory textural attributes were
served in Formulation 14, which was absent in SPI and RPO, obtained. All the sensory acceptability parameters studied were
but contained high amounts of pistachio paste. Formulations 12 found to be moderately correlated with the loss and storage modand 16 were without SPI, but it contained RPO and thus, their ulus obtained using a rheometer. High correlations were obtained
b values were between 16.5 and 18.4. The most important color between sensory acceptability of spread color and work of shear
attribute of pistachio products is the a value, which was related to (R = 0.836; P = 0.000). All the sensory attributes are modergreen color (Gamli and Hayoglu 2007). The a values of the spread, ately correlated with rheological parameters (R < 0.610). Modwhich indicate greenness/redness, were mainly contributed by the erate correlations were observed between sensory acceptability
presence of pistachio paste and RPO in the formulations. The a (taste, overall texture, overall acceptability, and spreadability) and
values ranged from 1.7 to 3.9 for spread (Formulations 2, 4, 5, the a value of spread. This implied that, even though color param7, 8, 11, 14, and 17), without addition of RPO, and 4.0 to 5.3 eters are among the important factors that determine consumer
S488 Journal of Food Science r Vol. 78, Nr. 3, 2013

acceptability, the overall acceptability of pistachio spread is also influenced by other factors, such as textural and rheological properties. Gills and Resurreccion (2000) reported that only the descriptive attributes, spreadability correlated highly with the spreadability
attribute based from the consumer point of view. In general, finding of this study showed that most of the sensory parameters and
instrumental measurements studied correlated with each other to
a certain degree. Different instrumental methods (work of shear,
storage modulus, and loss modulus) were affected in obtaining
these results.

Conclusion
Seventeen formulations of pistachio spreads were developed, using various levels of pistachio paste, icing sugar, SPI, and RPO,
based on factorial design. RPO has a direct effect on the rheological behavior of pistachio spread. Based on color attributes,
rheological properties, and sensory acceptability, the 2 most acceptable formulations of pistachio spreads were Formulation 12,
which contained 50.0% pistachio paste, 30.0% icing sugar, and
20% RPO and Formulation 16, comprised of 58.3% pistachio
paste, 25.0% icing sugar, and 16.7% RPO. Strong or moderate
correlations were observed during instrumental parameters (work
of shear, a value, G , and G ) and sensory acceptability (taste, color,
overall texture, overall acceptability, and spreadability) of pistachio
spread. Sensory spreadability is negatively correlated with work of
shear, which is the force required to spread the product. Overall
texture, spreadability, and overall acceptability by untrained panelists were negatively correlated with the work of shear of spreads.
Based on the findings of this work, it can be deduced that the most
important quality characteristics of an acceptable spread were high
degree of spreadability (low work of shear), and green color (low
a value).

Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Univ. Putra Malaysia (RUGS 6
Nr. 9300323). The authors thank for editorial help of G.G. Birch.

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Vol. 78, Nr. 3, 2013 r Journal of Food Science S489

S: Sensory & Food

Quality

Development of pistachio spread . . .

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