Studies on Changes in Carbonyls in Quick Cooking Red Gram (Cajanus cajan) Dhal

Effects of processing and storage on carbonyl profile and overall acceptability of quick cooking red gram (Cajanus cajan) dhal have been investigated. Unprocessed control red gram dhal contained butanal, hexanal, nonanal, decanal, acetone, butanone, pentanone, hexanone, heptanone, 2-butenal, 2-pentenal, 2-hexenal, 2-heptenal and 2,4- decadienal. Stored flaked and freeze-thaw dehydrated quick cooking red gram dhal contained acetaldehyde, propanal, pentanal, octanal, octanone, 2-octenal and 2-nonenal in addition to the compounds present in control. On storage, the proportion of. pentanal, hexanal, 2-hexenal, 2-heptenal, 2-octenal, 2-nonenal and 2,4-decadienal increased while that of acetone decreased considerably. Most of the additional aldehydes were formed from the oxidative degradation of linoleic and linolenic acids. Freeze-thaw dehydrated red gram dhal was found to be more prone to oxidation than its flaked counterpart.