In a bid to combat malnutrition in the country, the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) is urging Filipino entrepreneurs to adopt a technology which increases dietary fiber content in bakery products and snack foods by using a coconut by-product.

Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) senior science research specialist Rosemarie Garcia said the institute is "looking for technology adoptors" that would commercialize the technology which maximizes dietary fiber in pan de sal (bread buns), cookies and snack curls using coconut flour as base.

FNRI is the food and nutrition research arm of DoST.

Coconut flour is produced from coconut residue and is a byproduct of the coconut milk industry.

According to Garcia, the FNRI has successfully used coconut flour to develop value-added pan de sal, cookies and cheese-flavored snack curls. Coconut flour can provide up to 60 percent of an individual's daily dietary fiber requirements, she said.

"The use of coconut flour in the formulation of commonly consumed food products would benefit not only the general consuming public but also the coconut industry," Garcia said.

"Commercial scale production of (bakery and snack food products made from) coconut flour is being encouraged among entrepreneurs," she added.

Based on the study conducted by FNRI pan de sal with coconut flour contains 9.1 grams (g) of protein, 5.5g fat, 54.3g carbohydrates, 6.6g dietary fiber and provides 303 kilocalories (kcal) of energy per 100g sample.

The coconut flour-based pan de sal has a shelf life of about three days. Garcia said its dietary fiber content is four times more than those in commercial pan de sal.

Garcia said cookies that use coconut flour contain 8g protein, 57.4g carbohydrates, 14.8g dietary fiber and provide 541 kcal of energy per 100g sample.

A serving of the cookies would provide 22 percent of the recommended daily intake of dietary fiber for Filipinos, the FNRI official said.

Snack curls using coconut flour, on the other hand, was found to contain 8.1g protein, 11g fat, 7.3g dietary fiber and provides 433 kcal of energy.

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