Development of a novel instant soup: Evaluation of organoleptic, physicochemical and nutritive values

Instant Soup mix is a thick strew of mixtures generally designed for fast and simple preparation. The study's objectives included the development of an instant soup mix enhanced with chitosan and chuijhal (Piper chaba) and evaluating several formulations' quality characteristics. A mechanical drier was employed at the investigation's drying and dehydrating stages to ensure constant airflow and temperature. Chitosan powder was used as 0, 5, 10 and 15%, respectively, for developing various formulations. Later, these were reconstituted by boiling water to manufacture the soup mix. Proximate composition of instant soup mixes with different formulations showed no significant differences. However, the formulated soup, F-3 had the best organoleptic and functional characteristics. This instant soup mix powder was characterized by Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and showed the presence of chitosan. Therefore, chitosan along with chuijhal, an alternative functional food sources can be used as readily soup mix powder which provide optimum nutrition for the individuals.