PARTNER REQUEST

Specific programme: Integrating and Strengthening the European Research Area

Activity area: Food quality and Safety
Closing Date: 05 October 2005
Identifier: [FP6-2005-FOOD-B]
Theamatic Area: T5.4.3.3 Optimising food processing for nutritional and environmental quality

Title: Improvement of Halva Quality

Abstract

Halva is one of the oldest Mediterranean sweets and has a long history with some thinking that it is the oldest
traditional dessert. While there are many types of halva, the most famous form consumed throughout the Middle
East and the Balkan is the tahini halva.
Tahini halva is the most nutritional food product. Tahini, the basic ingredient of HALVA, which is made with
crushed sesame seeds, is an excellent source of protein and contains a living treasure of amino acids, vitamins
and essential acids. Tahini contains natural lecithin, which reduces blood fat levels and provides protection from
environmental pollutants such as nicotine. Tahini supplies excellent amounts of Vitamin E, which slows aging of
boy cells. Tahini is one of the best food sources for Calcium and other important minerals such as Potassium,
Phosphorus and Magnesium.
Halva is produced in the Mediterranean countries which are especially Turkey, Greek, Israel and Egypt. Because
of their sweet taste and nutritive value and also increasing demand of Europe recently, the industrial production
of halva has increased.
Tahini halva are produced with handed down methods without using modern technology by small producers.
Because of their mishandling process, quality properties of tahini halva are low.. There are no standard between
products producing different times. Especially, during the halva process, the tahina-sugar mixture was tempered
by hand and mixed until the correct consistency was reached. Thus new processing machineries are needed
during the shelf life of the product, oil leakage defects occur. The other problem is that some halva producers use
cheaper vegetable oil than sesame to produce Tahini halva. This adulterated halva couldn’t be discriminated
from the halva easily. There is a need to study to improve its quality and to distinguish adulterated or simulated
tahini halva than unadulterated ones.
To produce safer, more quality and healthier Tahini halva, this project aims to
 determine optimum process conditions to be standardized halva processing and to study their impact of the
process on the nutritional quality of halva (WP1).
 develop new process machine tempering tahini-sugar mixture to obtain hygienic halva processing (WP2)
 prevent oil leakage defect and extend shelf life of halva(WP3)
 develop the suitable method to determine adulterated halva from non-adulterated halva(WP4).

Keywords : Tahini halva, quality, sesame oil 

 
Target partner organisation type(s) : SME (<250 employees), suppliers of related food processing equipment,
Ingredient suppliers, research Centre/Research institute or University

Application domains: Food Industry

Contact : Ms. Ayse BAKAN

E-mail: Ayse.Bakan@mam.gov.tr
Organisation name: TUBITAK-MRC-FI (TUBITAK Marmara Research Centre, Food Institute)