A team of second-year students in Food Science and Innovation (FIN) from the Faculty of Science and Technology, Thammasat University, “Sugar Rune”, consisting of Trinyada Saeng-on, Nunthacha Prahun, and Sirintorn Thungjankul, wins the championship along with the royal trophy bestowed by Her Royal Highness Princess Sirindhorn and a cash prize of 50,000 baht from the FoSTAT Food Innovation Contest 2024 under the theme “Food for Crisis” organized by the Thai Association of Food Science and Technology. Team advisors are Asst. Prof. Dr. Suteera Vatthanakul, as the main advisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prapasri Theprugsa, Dr. Athip Boonsiriwit, and Dr. Benjarat Tepsongkroh as special advisors.
Nunthacha Prahun mentioned that the innovation was the team’s creation, ‘A chestnut buffalo bun filled with Massaman curry’. It is a French-style bread with a hard crust made from the ‘chestnut buffalo’, an aquatic plant commonly found in the central region, transformed through research to produce flour that can replace 100% wheat flour. It is filled with chicken Massaman curry that has been boiled and dried until rich and thick, fragrant with Massaman curry spices, and has a mild and gentle taste.
“This innovation is based on the idea of addressing the food crisis situation, where there is a lack of food or certain groups of people cannot access sufficient and nutritionally valuable food. We have therefore devised an innovation with the concept that the food should be easy to produce, have complete nutrients, be sufficiently filling, and have complete nutritional value to replace a meal. It focuses on supporting the agricultural industry to increase income for farmers in the community by utilizing domestically produced ingredients to maximize its benefits. In Thailand, wheat flour is still imported. It is also important that the food is delicious and appealing to consumers, resulting in a reliable bread with curry filling, under the brand Bread, And?” Nunthacha said.
She also added, “The process of fermenting the dough and attempting to extend the shelf life of bread filled with Massaman curry has been created. In comparison, regular filled bread has a shelf life of only 4-5 days, but the chestnut buffalo bun has a shelf life of over 14 days using Hurdler technology to adjust the aw and pH values and utilizing glycerin to prolong preservation. Due to the innovation employed in producing Bread, And?, which does not rely on complex new technologies and is something we see every day, we can easily market it because customers are already familiar with this product. In the future, this flour could become a new source of carbohydrates in Thailand and could also generate income for Thai farmers.”
