Standardization of manna bar (Local sweet) production

Manna bar is a typical Iraqi-Iranian confectionary that made of manna, glucose syrup, sugar, egg white, cardamom and nuts. Manna obtained from leaves and branches of the gallnut and oak trees harvested from the end of May to end of August, depending on the climate of the region. This study was carried out for production of manna bars and investigating the changes in their properties during the production process. The analyses made in this study were moisture content, pH value, color and textural properties, protein, sugar, fat, ash content and sensory analysis. It was found that increasing cooking temperature, cooking and mixing time, and pistachio content decreased (p<0.05) moisture content from 15.58% to 5.17%, but increased (p<0.05) hardness from 131g to 4451g. Moreover, addition of egg white increased (p<0.05) moisture content from 4.84% to 8.97%, but decreased (p<0.05) hardness from 1538g to 447g. Increasing pistachio content increased protein, fat and ash contents however decreased sugar content. Increased mixing time and egg white increased the lightness from 67.57 to 86.68. This study showed that high temperature and long cooking and mixing times improved the physical and chemical properties of manna bars. However, the sensory attributes were improved by increasing amount of pistachio as reducing the sweetness value.