The Effectiveness of Homemade Egg Substitutes Compared to Egg Beaters. Nicole Myer F&N 453-Food Chemistry November 21, 2005

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1 The Effectiveness of Homemade Egg Substitutes Compared to Egg Beaters. Nicole Myer F&N 453-Food Chemistry November 21, 2005

2 The Effectiveness of Homemade Egg Substitutes Compared to Egg Beaters. Abstract: The objective of this experiment is to determine the effectiveness of homemade egg replacers in banana muffins. Muffins were made with a flaxseed mixture and a soymilk powder with cornstarch mixture to replace eggs in a banana muffin recipe and compared to banana muffins made with a commercial egg replacer. The texture and volume of the muffins were tested with objective measures, and a taste panel rated the flavor of the muffins. The homemade substitute made muffins of comparable size, texture and flavor as those made with the commercial egg replacer. Introduction: The availability of egg substitutes is important for several groups of people. Those with high cholesterol levels who are at high risk for cardiovascular disease must reduce their cholesterol intake making eggs a rare if not nonexistent part of their diets. Also those with food allergies to egg proteins cannot eat anything made with eggs or egg products. A third group is people who refrain from eating animal products. These groups must find alternatives to many baked goods, salad dressings, and other foods that fulfill their daily nutrient needs without compromising taste. Many commercial egg replacers cater to the group of people just needing to lower their cholesterol by replacing the high cholesterol yolk with other ingredients, but some work has been done to find non-egg substitutes such as tofu or soymilk ingredients. Many studies have been done on egg containing replacements such as Fleischmann s Egg Beaters. It has been found that egg white containing egg replacers such as Egg Beaters yield similar results to whole eggs with equal texture, height and flavor although reducing the moisture content (LaBell 1988). But there still remains a group of people who cannot or will not eat egg products at all. According to The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (2004), eggs are one of a list of eight foods that cause 90% of food allergic reactions. Although this group is a relatively small in comparison to those who do not have problems with eggs (less than 16.6% of the population have food allergies of any kind (Beaudette, 1991)), some measures may be taken to find replacements that could be used in the home as well as in commercial products. For this project, banana muffins were made replacing the egg in the recipe with a commercial egg substitute and two non-egg substitutes. The purpose was to determine whether eggs could be substituted in a muffin recipe with non-egg replacements without changing the quality, therefore using the null hypothesis that there is no difference in the quality of the products. The independent variables in this study were the egg substitutes: Egg Beaters, a ground flaxseed mixture, and a soymilk powder with cornstarch mixture. The observed dependent variables are volume, tenderness, and flavor. The volume was measured using a seed volume apparatus, and the tenderness was measured using a texture analyzer. A taste panel rated the flavor of the muffins using a 9-point hedonic scale.

3 Methods: 1. Design: Three treatments were used to replace eggs in banana muffins which have relatively low amounts of egg in them compared to other egg containing products. One treatment, Egg Beaters, served as a control since it a well established egg substitute. The other two treatments, flaxseed mixture and soymilk powder with cornstarch, served as homemade, unknown variables to be tested for their substitutability. 2. Recipes: Table 1. Banana Muffin Recipes Egg Beaters Flaxseed Soymilk with cornstarch Flour 110 g 110 g 110 g Sugar 31 g 31 g 31 g Baking powder 3.8 g 3.8 g 3.8 g Salt 0.75 g 0.75 g 0.75 g Egg Beaters 25 g 0 g 0 g Flaxseed (ground) 0 g 4.5 g 0 g Soymilk powder 0 g 0 g 3.5 g Cornstarch 0 g 0 g 3.5 g Water 0 g 22 g 15 g 2% milk 59 g 59 g 59 g Vegetable oil 10 g 10 g 10 g Mashed banana 43 g 43 g 43 g 3. Procedure: o Preheat oven to 400 F (204 C) o Spray 2 ½ inch muffin cups with Pam nonstick cooking spray. o In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. o In small bowl, mash banana with a hand mixer for 1 minute. o In another bowl, combine egg substitute, milk, banana, and oil. o Add liquid mixture to flour mixture. Stir for 30 seconds. o Place muffin pan on scale, zero, and then spoon 45 g batter into muffin cups. o Bake preheated oven for 18 minutes. o Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. 4. Methods of testing The objective tests of this experiment were the seed volume apparatus and the texture analyzer. In the seed volume apparatus, two whole muffins of each variable were measured and their volume averaged. The texture analyzer was set for muffins (see Appendix for detailed specifications) and the cone probe was used on two muffins of each variable. The top of each muffin was cut off so that the texture of the muffin s center was measured, not the crust, and the texture of the two muffins was averaged. The objective test for muffins was an untrained sensory panel made up of classmates, faculty, family, and friends using a 9-point hedonic scale. The muffins were given a 3-digit number and displayed in a triangular fashion so that the panelist could choose the order tasted. The scorecard for the sensory panel is attached in the appendix.

4 This experiment was replicated three times in the same manner each time in order to obtain results that could be averaged and compared. Results The results of this experiment were surprisingly close to what was expected. When comparing the trials with one another, the values varied quite a bit, but there was little variation between individual samples within a trial, especially when one looks at the variations in the results of the texture analyzer and seed volume apparatus (Tables 2 and 3 and Figures 1 and 2). As shown in Table 4 and Figure 3, the sensory panel liked the banana muffins made flaxseed and soymilk with cornstarch replacements more than the muffins made with Egg Beaters. Tables 2-4 and Figures 1-3 display the results of the objective and subjective test. Table 2. Average Texture Analyzer Results (force in grams) Flaxseed Soymilk with cornstarch Egg Beaters Trial Trial Trial Trial Average Table 3. Average Seed Volume Apparatus Results (volume in ml) Flaxseed Soymilk with cornstarch Egg Beaters Trial Trial Trial Trial Average Table 4. Average Sensory Panel Results (Hedonic Scale 1= Extremely, 9= Extremely) Flaxseed Soymilk with cornstarch Egg Beaters Trial Trial Trial Trial Average

5 120 Flaxseed 100 Soymilk and Cornstarch Egg Beaters 80 Force (g) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial Average Figure 1:Texture Analyzer (g) of Banana Muffins Flaxseed Soymilk and Cornstarch Egg Beaters Volume (ml) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial Average Figure 2. Seed Volume Apparatus Volume of Banana Muffins

6 7 6 Flaxseed 9-Point Hedonic Scale Rating Soymilk and Cornstarch Egg Beaters 1 0 Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial Average Figure 3. Sensory Test of Banana Muffins Discussion Very little research has been done on flaxseed and soymilk powder as egg replacements. A study by Beth Totheroh and Carol Ries (1994) was the only study found of substituting egg in a recipe with a homemade egg replacer or removing egg altogether. In this sensory study, they found that their homemade egg replacer (which was made of egg whites, nonfat dry milk powder, oil, and yellow food coloring) was as acceptable in peanut butter cookies and sugar cookies as whole egg. In the peanut butter cookies, they found that there were significantly lower scores on cookies made with no replacement for the egg than those made with egg or egg replacers. According to Breadbeckers.com, a mixture of ground flaxseed and water make suitable egg substitutes (2005). Although, studies have been done on replacing some flour with ground flaxseed, none have used it to replace egg. These have shown that the flaxseed replaced product is of similar quality to the original product (Fiscus and others 1998, Alpers and Sawyer-Morse 1996). In her article, The Most Common Cause of Food Allergy in Infants and Young Children, Judy Tidwell lists the functions of eggs in foods and suggests that flaxseed and water make a suitable substitute for eggs when they are needed for binding. Much research has been done on the unique properties of flax. One of the most significant properties of flax is that it has high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids which may prevent or improve diseases such as coronary heart disease and Crone s disease (Magee 2002). This would be an added benefit when replacing eggs because a product would lose the cholesterol of an egg but would gain healthful oils and fiber with the substitution which may lend a fatty flavor and mouthfeel that is lost when removing egg.

7 Soymilk powder as a replacement for egg was suggested by the website Pioneerthinking.com, but has even less research than the flaxseed recipe. In his booklet Soy Protein in Baking, Clyde Stauffer explains the preparation of soymilk powder from soy flour which involves adding lecithin and oils. These additions may be the properties that contribute mouthfeel and texture similar to eggs in a recipe. These modified soy flours have emulsifying and shortening properties that are useful in certain bakery applications. (Stauffer 2005). Another benefit according to Stauffer is that the substitution can be effective in cost reduction (2005). In this project, several measures were taken in order to control any error that would be caused by any changes in other variables. Each ingredient was weighed to the nearest tenth of a gram, the mixing of the batter was timed so that any gluten formed would be fairly uniform between samples, and the muffins were weighed by placing the muffin pan on the scale, zeroing it, and weighing 45 grams each; this was to keep the weight of batter equal in each cup to make equal weight muffins without losing some batter to the transfer between weighing and the baking cups. The baking was timed as well using the same oven for each sample so that any texture differences were not from variations in temperature or time. Two muffins from each sample were measured in both objective tests to get an average value, and when using the texture analyzer to measure the tenderness, each muffin was measured from the middle of the muffin after cutting off the tops. This research has shown that flaxseed and soymilk powder with cornstarch are effective replacements for eggs in banana muffins in flavor, texture, and volume. Both produced muffins of similar quality to the commercial egg substitute, Egg Beaters, and were preferred in the sensory panel to muffins made with Egg Beaters. Future research could be done on these homemade egg substitutes to determine their effectiveness in other baked goods such as breads, cakes, or rolls. Both flaxseed and soymilk powder have the potential to become common household substitutes in a generation that is learning to lower cholesterol and reduce allergic reactions.

8 References Alpers L, Sawyer-Morse MK Eating quality of banana nut muffins and oatmeal cookies made with ground flaxseed. Journal of the American Dietetics Association 96(8): Beaudette T. Adverse Reactions to Foods. Chicago, Ill: American Dietetic Association 1991:5 Breadbeckers.com Fiscus A, Harris J, Albrecht JA, Scheideler SE Incorporation of Flaxseed into a Master Mix and Evaluation of Banana Bread and Peanut Butter Cookies. Journal of the American Dietetics Association 99(9):A29. LaBell F Tofu technology yields whole egg substitute, dairy replacers. Food Processing 49(4):68-69 Magee, E The Flax Cookbook. New York: Marlowe & Company. 184 p. Pioneerthinking.com Stauffer, CE Soy Protein in Baking. American Soybean Association. The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network Tidwell, Judy The most common cause of food allergy in infants and young children. About.com. The New York Times Company. Totheroh B, Ries CP Palatability of peanut butter and sugar cookies made with egg substitutes. Journal of the American Dietetics Association 94(3):

9 Appendix: Texture Analyzer Muffin Specifications Program: Texture Expert Parameters: Pretest speed 2.0 mm/sec Test speed 3.0 mm/sec Post test speed 5.0 mm/sec Rupture test distance 1.0 mm Distance 5.0 mm Force 2000 g Time 5.00 sec Count 5 Trigger: Type Auto Force 40 g Delay acquisition X Auto tare X Break: Detect OFF Sensitivity 0.0 g Units: Force grams Distance millimeters

10 Subjective Testing: For each product, please rate the following using the hedonic scale: Sample #054 Flavor very Neither like nor dislike very Sample #936 Flavor very Neither like nor dislike very Sample #280 Flavor very Neither like nor dislike very

Title: The effect of replacing cow s milk with soy or goat s milk in blueberry muffins on

Amanda Kendall Written Report F&N 43 November 21, 2 Title: The effect of replacing cow s milk with soy or goat s milk in blueberry muffins on taste and texture. Abstract: Some people are cannot tolerate