Development of a Nutritious Instant Soup for the Elderly: Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut and Galangal (Tom Kha Gai)
Date
2024-12-12
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Graphicsite
Journal Title
Development of a Nutritious Instant Soup for the Elderly: Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut and Galangal (Tom Kha Gai)
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Abstract
This research aims to develop a Thai-flavored instant soup product familiar to Thai seniors. Ranked as the highest on the list of the best chicken soups in the world, Thai Chicken Soup with Coconut and Galangal, or Tom Kha Gai, topped the TasteAtlas global food mapping site in 2023 (Bangkok Post, 2023). The ingredients of the soup are primarily vegetables and herbs with high nutritional value, including king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, straw mushrooms, kaffir lime leaves and galangal. The production process of the instant soup was studied, and the results showed that, among the different drying techniques, the freeze-drying method was able to preserve the sensory characteristics of the soup better than the drum-drying technique (p≤0.05). The results indicated that the instant Tom Kha Gai soup with emulsion powder encapsulated with vitamin B1, B2, B12, and folate had substantially higher levels of these nutrients (p≤0.05) compared to the instant Tom Kha Gai soup without the emulsion supplements, while maintaining similar dietary fiber content. The consumer acceptance test showed a high perceived liking for the instant Tom Kha Gai with a score of “Like Very Much” (7.4±1.1). Furthermore, 89% of the consumers accepted the product, and 86% expressed their willingness to purchase it if available for sale. Therefore, the development of the nutritional Thai-flavored instant soup successfully met the demands of elderly and health-oriented consumers.