A study on determination of the effects of using different food additives on emulsion stability and quality of tahin helva

In this study, it was aimed to solve the oil separation problem occured in tahin helva by using food additives permitted as a emulgator for tahin helva in the Turkish Food Codex. For this purpose; the food additives, namely sorbitan tristerate (STS) (3,5 g/kg), sorbitan monopalmitate (SMP)(3,5 g/kg) and their combinations (1:1) (K2) (2 g/kg) were added to tahin helva, then helva samples were stored at the storage temperatures of 20, 30 and 40°C The effects of food additives, storage temperature and storage time on physical, chemical and sensory properties of tahin helva were investigated and evaluated by using Variance Analysis of Repeated Measurement and Friedman Test.It was determined that the food additives did not have any effect on phyical, chemical and sensory properties of tahin halva except on oil contents, whereas storage temperature and storage time had some effects on those helva properties. It was observed that textural penetration forces of halva have increased by increasing the storage time and storage temperature. It was found that there was an decrease in -a color value of helva through the storage time at the storage temperatures of 20 and 30°C, whereas there was an increase in that value at the storage temperature of 40°C. On the other hand, no significant changes in L* color value of all halva samples were observed through the storage at all selected storage temperatures. The highest change in the moisture content of all halva samples through storage was observed at 20°C. During the storage period, no significant changes in protein, ash and total sugar contents of all halva samples were observed for all storage temperatures. It was found that K2 formulation was more effective than SMP and STS formulations in preventing oil seperation in tahin halva. Sensory scores for apparance, texture and flavor characteristics of halva decreased during the storage period. It was found that the decrease for texture scores was significantly different after 36 and 12 days of storage at the temperatures of 30°C and other selected temperatures (20 ? C and 40°C), respectively. The decrease for flavor scores was also found to be significantly different after 12 days of storage for all selected temperatures.Key words: Tahin Helvası, Emulsion Stability, Emulgator, Sorbitols Esters