Nutrient Composition and Antioxidative Potential of Seasonings Formulated from Herbs, Spices, and Seafood

ABSTRACT

There is an increasing strong desire for natural and nature-derived flavor enhancers as a result of the health benefits they confer. The combination of herbs, spices, and seafood was used to develop seasonings that can be used as replacement for commercially produced flavor enhancers, which usually contain chemically synthesized monosodium glutamate. Ethmalosa fimbriata or Caprius gariepinus, garlic or ginger, onion, moringa, shrimp, salt, and basil were processed and combined in different proportions to make the various seasonings. The products have significantly higher crude fat, crude protein, and calcium contents compared to the control. The seasoning containing E. fimbriata and ginger had the highest DPPH (1, 1- diphenyl-2-picryhydrazyl) inhibition potential (46.00 ± 5.08%) and total phenolics (17.59 ± 1.47 mg gallic acid equivalents, GAE/g) content, with significantly lower lipid peroxidation (35.58 ± 2.54%). Seasonings with ginger had significantly higher overall acceptability. The developed seasonings can conveniently be used as replacement for the commercially available controls in culinary.

KEYWORDS:

• Health benefit
• herbs and spices
• monosodium glutamate
• seasoning

Acknowledgment

Professor Oyedapo Fagbenro of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria is appreciated for his guidance on the selection of the appropriate fish samples and also providing information on the scientific names.