Note. Preparation and characterisation of cake rusks by using red palm oil fortified shortening

Cake rusks were prepared by using different combinations of normal and red palm oil fortified shortening to explore the possibility of red palm oil (RPO) fortified shortening to enhance the vitamin A status in human dietary intake. The replacement of normal shortening with RPO up to 50% level was the most acceptable, however, the use of RPO shortening beyond this limit showed a somewhat oily after taste. Carotenoid contents in flour, normal shortening, RPO shortening and egg were 3.57 ppm, 5.85 ppm, 405.39 ppm and 5.13 ppm, respectively. Moisture content increased from 3.11% to 3.22 % after 28 days of storage. During baking, loss of carotenoid contents ranged from 12.07% to 14.91%. A minimum carotenoid content of 7.19 ppm were found in the cake rusks (T-1) prepared with 100% normal shortening (NS) while a maximum of 105.64 ppm was observed in (T-5) 100% RPO in the freshly prepared product. The mean carotenoid content in T-3 (50% RPO 50% NS) was 57.80 ppm however it ranged from 6.94 ppm (T-1) to 102.34 ppm in (T-5). A gradual decrease (7-10%) in carotenoid contents during 28 days' storage was observed. There was significant increase (0.04-0.08 mg malonaldehyde/kg) in thiobarbituric acid number during storage. Results regarding sensory attributes reflect that T-3 comprising of 50% RPO and 50% NS got the highest score. Furthermore consumer response in the acceptability study also showed that T-3 treatment of cake rusk is suitable for commercialisation.