Abstract:
Pita bread loaves were prepared from flours fortified with calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, and tricalcium dicitrate at 8 ascending levels to provide ranges of 800 to 2500, 700 to 1500, and 400 to 2000 mg of added Ca-100 g flour, respectively. The detection thresholds of calcium salts in pita bread were determined by the 3-alternative forced choice (3-AFC) test and construction of dose-response curves. Detection thresholds determined by calculating geometric mean of individual best estimate thresholds, using criterion of 50percent-above-chance and probit analysis of 3-AFC data, were in the middle region of calcium concentrations. Analysis of dose-response curves yielded values for thresholds outside the range of surveyed calcium concentrations. The detection threshold of CaSO4 (2724 mg-100 g) in pita bread was significantly higher (P andlt; 0.01) than those of calcium carbonate (1984 mg-100 g) and tricalcium dicitrate (2132 mg-100 g). Calcium-fortified pita bread was similar (P andlt; 0.01) to its regular counterpart when formulated to contain 1254.6, 1772.5, or 1155 mg-100 g of CaCO3, CaSO4, or tricalcium dicitrate, respectively. At the indicated levels of fortification, calcium-fortified pita bread is expected to provide between 61percent and 126.5percent of the recommended daily intake for calcium for Middle Eastern populations. © 2005 Institute of Food Technologists.