Sensory and instrumental assessment of chinese moon cake influences of almond flour, maltitol syrup, fat, and gums

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Food Research International 41 (2008) 930–936 www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres Sensory and instrumental assessment of Chinese moon cake: Influences of almond flour, maltitol syrup, fat, and gums Chunli Jia a, Yang Soo Kim a, Weining Huang a,* , Guangwei Huang b a State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, International Exchange and Cooperation Program, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214036, China b Almond Board of California, 1150 9th Street, Suite 1500, Modesto, CA 95354, USA Received 30 March 2007; accepted 23 October 2007 Abstract The objectives of this research were to investigate sensory and instrumental (texture and color) quality attributes and their relation of newly formulated Chinese moon cakes: California almond flour and maltitol syrup were used as the replacement of wheat flour and sucrose syrup, respectively and gum was added as the fat-replacer Sensory analysis showed that addition of almond flour had the most significant (P 0.05) effects on the properties of moon cakes, and the 70% replaced moon cake was most favored by the sensory panel: almond flavor, color, shininess, stickiness, oiliness, and chewiness increased and hardness decreased Sweetness and moon cake color decreased significantly as maltitol syrup replaced sucrose syrup The reduction of fat decreased shininess, stickiness, and oiliness but the addition of gums alleviated the impaired attributes The instrumental data were highly correlated with those from the sensory analysis for hardness, chewiness, and stickiness (R2 = 0.97, 0.96, and 0.71, respectively) Ó 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd Keywords: Chinese moon cake; California almond flour; Sensory analysis; Maltitol syrup; Gums; Sugar substitute Introduction Moon cake is a baked product that is unique in shape with various patterns of special Chinese cultural design on a shiny surface (Huang, Jia, Huang, & Saitama, 2004) Moon cake consists of two parts: the inside portion, the filler, can be a red bean paste, mung bean paste, egg yolk, etc.; and the outside layer, the skin, is made from wheat flour dough Well established as traditional snacks in China, moon cakes are largely consumed during MidAutumn day, a traditional Chinese holiday, with sales over 15 billion RMB (nearly US $2 billion) each year in China There are several types of moon cakes The Guang-style moon cake is most popular, comprising 80% of the total consumption of moon cakes in China Since fresh baked Guang-style products require several days to reach their * Corresponding author Tel./fax: +86 510 8531 9139 E-mail address: wnhuang@jiangnan.edu.cn (W Huang) 0963-9969/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2007.10.006 optimum texture and shininess, it is not until this time that they are consumed However, Guang-style moon cakes are traditionally high in sugar and fat As the economy of China is improving rapidly, people demand healthier products (Han, 2006) Chinese baking industries are facing the challenges of producing the moon cakes low in sugar and fat, but with similar or better taste than a traditional one In 2003, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a health claim that consuming a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart diseases The almond, at 11 g per serving size for either whole or chopped almonds, is low in both saturated fat and cholesterol and thus meets the FDA requirement American California almonds contain about 20–30% proteins, 45–55% fats with over 90% of unsaturated fatty acids, 10–15% dietary fibers, and abundant minerals, vitamins, sterols, and tocopherols (Lapsley & Huang, 2004) Sugar syrup, produced by dissolving sugar in water and hydrolyzed with a dilute acid or enzyme, is a key ingredient C Jia et al / Food Research International 41 (2008) 930–936 and improves color and texture of the Guang-style moon cake Maltitol is a low-calorie functional sweetener produced by hydrogenating-reducing maltose, and has only 10% to thermal value of sugar (Zhang, 1997) Replacing sugar syrup with maltitol syrup will reduce the calorie of the moon cakes Fat improves mouthfeel, tenderness and shininess of moon cakes However, fat, because of its high-calorie source, has been replaced with lower-calorie substitutes such as a gum or a mixture of gums in many baked goods Gum, a carbohydrate, has strong adhesion and improves the structure of the moon cake by absorbing water, which makes a food system smoother; similar to the function of fat (Yang, Yu, & Gao, 2002) Since it is difficult to replicate the properties similar to fat using only one gum, two or more gums are usually mixed for fat substitution Xanthan gum mixed with other gums is the most widely used in baking products (Glicksman, 1991; Lucca & Trepper, 1994; McClemets & Demetriades, 1998; O’Carroll, 1997; Ward, 1997) The objectives of this research were: to formulate Chinese moon cakes using California almond flour and maltitol as the replacement of wheat flour and sucrose, respectively, and the addition of gums as the fat-replacer; and to investigate their influences on some quality attributes of newly formulated moon cakes; and to investigate how well the sensory analysis data will relate to those measured by an instrumental texture analyzer and a Minolta camera for color values, so that the sensory attributes can be estimated from the instrumental testing method Materials and methods 2.1 Materials 2.1.1 Ingredients and their properties High-gluten wheat flour was purchased from Fortune Family Food Company (Zhangjiagang, China) Dough properties, determined by a Brabender Farinograph according to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Approved Method 5530-1-1988 (1997), were 931 water absorption (66.6%), development time (14.0 min), mixing stability time (18.9 min), and setback (20 Brabender Unit, BU) The almond flour was provided by the Almond Board of California, USA The other ingredients were purchased from various companies in China, i.e., sugar syrup (GuanZhong Food Ltd., Shanghai), maltitol syrup (GuanZhong Food Ltd., Shanghai), peanut oil (Jiali Grain and Oil Industry Ltd., Shanghai), ‘kansui’ (alkali water containing sodium and potassium carbonates, pH 12.6) (Guangzhou Xingu Refined Chemistry Ltd., Guangzhou), and Xanthan and Arabic gums (Danisco Co., Kunshan) Brix of both sugar and maltitol syrup were determined with a refractometer (WZS-I, Shanghai Optical Equipment Industry, Shanghai) according to ISO Approve Method 1743–1982 (1997) Their Brix values were 76% and 78%, respectively, for sugar syrup and maltitol syrup 2.2 Methods 2.2.1 Formulations and baking A traditional formulation of Guang-style moon cake includes 100 parts of wheat flour, 50 parts of sugar syrup, 30 parts of peanut oil, and part of kansui From the traditional formulation, the various amount of almond flour replaced the wheat flour at the 10%, 40%, and 70% levels Maltitol syrup replaced 10%, 50%, and 90% of sucrose syrup The fat content was reduced by 5%, 10%, and 15% of the total oil content, i.e., to the peanut oil content of 28.5%, 27.0%, and 25.5% of flour weight and the gum mixture was added at the 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3% levels (Table 1) The gum mixture contained Xanthan and Arabic gums at a ratio of one to one Syrup and kansui were mixed in a mixer (Shanghai Zaomiao Ltd., Shanghai), then peanut oil was added, and finally flour and gums were added into the mixer to make dough The dough was rested h and was weighed to 30 g each Seventy grams of red bean paste was wrapped with the dough to make one piece of 100 g moon cake dough Before the moon cakes were baked in the oven, a thin-layer of water was sprayed on the surface of the Table Experimental design of moon cakes with four ingredients and three levels Experimental design Almond flour replacementa (%) Maltitol syrup replacementa (%) Peanut oil reductionb (%) Gums additionc (%) F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 10 40 70 70 10 40 40 70 10 10 10 10 50 50 50 90 90 90 10 15 10 15 10 15 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.2 a b c Percent of almond flour replacing wheat flour and % of maltitol syrup replacing sucrose syrup Percent of fat reduced based on total oil content (30% of flour weight) Percent (of flour weight) of a mixture of gums (Xanthan gum and Arabic gum = 1:1) added 932 C Jia et al / Food Research International 41 (2008) 930–936 dough, the skin of the cake The moon cakes were baked 3– (Xinmai Mechanical Ltd., Wuxi, China) first in the oven with 200 and 175 °C, top and bottom temperatures, respectively When the surface (skin) color of the moon cakes became golden, the moon cakes were taken out and cooled for 15–20 After cooling, a thin-layer of egg was brushed on the surface of the moon cakes, and then baked for another 8–12 at 200 °C until brown color After baking, they were cooled to 50–60 °C, then wrapped using plastic sheet and were stored at room temperature The sensory analysis (SA), texture profile analysis (TPA), and color measurement were conducted on the third-day after baking 2.2.2 Sensory analysis (SA) The SA of the moon cakes was conducted, on the thirdday after baking, according to the method described by Stone, Sidel, Oliver, Woolsey, and Singleton (1974) The SA was carried out at the Sensory Laboratory of the School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China The panel of eight judges was first introduced to the general guidelines of sensory, descriptive sensory evaluation, and the experimental procedures, without disclosing information about the samples The panel was then trained to evaluate sensory attributes and intensity ratings based on reference moon cakes of the Guang-style with the traditional formulation Eight sensory attributes were color, shininess, stickiness, almond flavor, hardness, oiliness, sweetness, and chewiness and the terms of descriptive sensory attributes were chosen through discussion among the panel (Table 2) Six reference scales, developed by the panel, were chosen by comparing the samples and the reference and were corresponded to the intensity ratings of 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 (0 = the least intensity and 50 = the most intensity), respectively The maximum intensity score of 50 was assigned to the reference Guang-style moon cake for all attributes The surface skin of the moon cake, 2-mm thickness, was carefully removed for further testing All of the skins of the moon cakes were coded using three-digit numbers and were served randomly The panel was allowed to approach Table Sensory attributes and their definitionsa Attributes Definitions Color Shininess Stickiness Scale yields from light to dark Degree to which the sample shines on surface of sample Degree to which the sample sticks or trends to stick to anything that touches it Aromatic associated with almond Almond flavor Hardness Oiliness Sweetness Chewiness a Force required to bite through the sample after one bite with the molars Fat layer in the mouth Sweet taste of sucrose Amount of work to chew sample to point of swallow Intensity scale is for the least and 50 for the most and taste both reference and samples Water was used for rinsing the mouth and palate between each sample Each sample was duplicated and analyzed in a duplicate 2.2.3 Instrumental measurement: texture analysis and color measurement The skin (2-mm thickness) of the moon cake was tested for its textural parameters using a texture analyzer (TAXT2i, Stable Micro Systems, Godalming, UK) at room temperature The size of the probe was 1.27 cm (0.5 in.), the pretest speed was 5.0 mm/s, test speed was 2.0 mm/s, and the post speed was 5.0 mm/s The moon cake surface skin was compressed to 60% of its original height and twice continuously Hardness, cohesiveness, and chewiness values (all in the unit of g-force) were computed automatically by the data-processing software, obtained with the instrument, i.e., Texture Expert Version 1.20 The color (L*, a*, and b*) of moon cake surface skin was measured at four different locations of each sample by a Minolta Chroma Meter (PG-PIIG, Optical Equipment Co., Beijing), which was calibrated by using standard white board and the mean value was recorded L* expresses the darkness or lightness (0 is darkness and 100 is lightness); Àa*, +a*, Àb*, and +b* represented the green, red, blue and yellow color, respectively Means for each sample evaluated were calculated for all sensory attributes (n = 18, nine designs, as shown in Table and two replicates) as well as for instrumental parameters (n = 18, nine designs, as shown in Table and two replicates) 2.2.4 Experimental design and statistical analysis L9(34) orthogonal statistical design with levels of variables was used (Table 1) The effects of different components on the sensory attributes and textural and color parameters were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the least significant difference (LSD) test The results of sensory and instrumental analysis of moon cakes were summarized with principle component analysis (PCA) The relations between sensory attributes and instrumental measurements were determined with a simple linear regression All statistical analysis were conducted at a significant level of P 0.05 with the statistical analysis system for Windows (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) Results and discussion 3.1 Sensory analysis ANOVA indicated four independent variables, amount of almond flour, maltitol syrup, gums, and amount of reduction of fat, significantly (P 0.05) affecting several sensory attributes and data from the texture analyzer and minolta chroma meter However, there were no significant interactions (2-way, 3-way, and 4-way interactions) observed among four variables for both sensory and instrumental measurements (data not shown) C Jia et al / Food Research International 41 (2008) 930–936 933 Table Effects of replacement levels of wheat flour by almond flour and sucrose syrup by maltitol syrup on sensory attributes of Chinese moon cakea Sensory attributes Almond flavor Color Shininess Stickiness Hardness Oiliness Sweetness Chewiness Almond flour replacement (%) Maltitol syrup replacement (%) 10 40 70 10 50 90 31.7a 30.0a 26.7a 13.7a 23.7c 7.0a 18.3 10.0a 39.3b 37.0a 32.7b 20.3b 17.0b 12.7b 18.0 14.7b 47.7c 41.3b 40.3c 26.3c 11.0a 15.7c 18.3 18.3c 39.3 41.6c 33.3 20 17.3 12.7 24.0c 14.3 39.7 37.3b 33.3 20.3 17.0 11.3 19.0b 14.3 39.7 29.3a 33.0 20.0 17.3 11.3 11.7a 14.3 a Mean values of two replicates in the same row for each ingredient followed by different letters were significantly different (P 0.05) Intensity scale: = least; 50 = most 3.1.1 Effects of almond flour replacing wheat flour The three replacement levels of almond flour affected all sensory attributes except sweetness significantly (P 0.05), as shown in Table The intensity of almond flavor, color, shininess, stickiness, oiliness, and chewiness increased while hardness decreased, as the replacement amount of almond flour increased (Table 3, Fig 1) It was reported that the baked almonds contain a unique volatile compound, 2methyl-butyraldehyde, which is responsible for the strong almond flavor (Jia et al., 2005) With an increasing content of almond flour replacement, the dough contains higher fat content, contributed by the almond flour and thus, it may cause significant increases in oiliness and shininess of moon Fig PCA of the results of quantitative descriptive sensory analysis The first two principal components, PC1 and PC2 explained 74.1% and 18.3% of variability, respectively F1–F9 are defined in the experimental design, as shown in Table cake (Lapsley & Huang, 2004) Among sensory attributes, shiny appearance and hardness, the biting force, are the first two attributes acknowledged by consumers The sensory panel had assigned the highest intensity to the six attributes and the lowest hardness (the softest) intensity for the moon cake made from 70% of wheat flour being replaced by almond flour 3.1.2 Effects of maltitol syrup replacing sucrose syrup The replacement amount of maltitol syrup significantly decreased the sweetness and color of the moon cake (Table 3, Fig 1) The sweetness of the moon cake with the lowest replacement level of maltitol syrup, i.e., F1, F2, and F3 (see Table 1, Fig 1), was the highest; while the sweetness of the moon cake with highest maltitol syrup, F7, F8, and F9, was the lowest (Table 3, Fig 1) The sweetness of the moon cake decreased as the level of maltitol syrup replacing sugar syrup increased, because the sweetness of maltitol syrup is 80–90% of sugar syrup, as reported by Zhang (1997) Fig and Table also showed that the more maltitol syrup was used to replace the sugar syrup, the lighter the color of the moon cake was, when the amounts of all other ingredients, including almond flour, were constant for all three levels of maltitol syrup replacement Maltitol syrup cannot brown the moon cake nearly as much as sucrose syrup, because it cannot induce a Maillard reaction even when mixed with amino acids and proteins under heating (Zhang, 1997) 3.1.3 Effect of fat reduction The reduction of fat in the formulation significantly decreased the shininess, stickiness, and oiliness At the lowest fat reduction level, i.e., 5% reduction (28.5% peanut oil in the formulation), the sensory panel rated higher intensity scores for all three attributes, when the amounts of all other ingredients, including almond flour, were the same (Table 4) At the 40% of almond flour replacement, the intensity of the shininess, stickiness, and oiliness was the weakest for the sample F6 and the medium for the sample F2, and the strongest for the sample F7 (Table 4) Similar results were found for cakes and cookies (Landis & Altman, 1996) Although Armbrister and Setser (1994) found that reduction in fat by 50% and 70% increased chewiness 934 C Jia et al / Food Research International 41 (2008) 930–936 Table Effects of reduction level of peanut oil and addition level of gums on sensory attributes of Chinese moon cakea Sensory attributes Peanut oil reductionb (%) Gums additionc (%) 10 15 0.1 0.2 0.3 Almond flavor Color Shininess Stickiness Hardness Oiliness Sweetness Chewiness 39.7 36.7 34.7c 21.7c 16.7 15.3c 18.0 14.0 39.3 34.7 33.3b 20b 17.3 11.0b 18.3 14.7 39.7 37.0 31.7a 18.7a 17.7 9.0a 18.3 14.3 41.0c 35.0 33.0 20.0 18.0b 11.3 19.3c 13.7a 39.7b 38.0 33.3 20.0 17ab 13.0 18.3b 14.3ab 38.0a 35.3 33.3 20.3 16.7a 11.3 17.0a 15.0b a Mean values of two replicates in the same row followed by different letters were significantly different (P 0.05) Intensity scale: = least; 50 = most Percent of fat reduction based on total oil content (30% of flour weight) The reduction of 5%, 10%, and 15% results in the oil levels of 28.5%, 27.0%, and 25.5% in the formulation, respectively c Percent (of flour weight) of a mixture of gums (Xanthan and Arabic gum = 1:1) added b in cookies, our results did not significantly affect the chewiness of the moon cakes by fat reduction It might have been likely that the level of fat reduction in our study was too small (5%, 10%, and 15% reduction, i.e., 28.5%, 27.0%, and 25.5% of peanut oil in the formulation) for the sensory panel to distinguish the differences in chewiness or color of moon cakes 3.1.4 Effects of gums Adding gums significantly affected almond flavor, hardness, sweetness, and chewiness of moon cake when the same levels of all other ingredients were in the formulations from the three gum levels of addition: the intensity of almond flavor, sweetness and hardness decreased and that of chewiness increased as the amount of gums increased For the samples at the 70% replacement of wheat flour by almond flour, the increasing amount of gums addition decreased the intensity of the almond flavor, sweetness, and hardness of moon cakes: the sample F8 (0.1% gums) showed the highest intensity, the sample F4 (0.2% gums) the medium, and the sample F3 (0.3% gums) the lowest intensity (Table 4) However, chewiness had a positive relation with the amount of gums added (Table 4) The gums, a high-molecular-weight polymer, could prevent the release of volatile flavor components (De Roos, 1997; Ligutom, Mesina, & Ganji, 1999) Xanthan, especially, was well-known for decreasing flavor in food sys- tems (O’Carroll, 1997; Pangborn, Gibbs, & Tassan, 1978) Due to this well-known characteristic of the gums, the almond flavor and sweetness decreased as the level of gums increased (Table 4) In addition, gums can absorb water and hold water molecules tightly (Friend, Waniska, & Rooney, 1993; Rosell, Rojas, & Benedito de Barber, 2001), so the addition of which decreased the hardness of products Chewiness of the moon cake surface skin increased with an increase in the level of gums, as a similar result has been observed in meatballs (Hsu & Chung, 2000) 3.2 Instrumental analysis ANOVA results of the textural analysis from the texture analyzer (Tables and 6) were similar to those from sensory analysis (Tables and 4) 3.2.1 Textural analysis The replacement level by almond flour significantly affected the hardness, cohesiveness, and chewiness values obtained from instrumental analysis Hardness drastically decreased, i.e., softness greatly increased while both cohesiveness and chewiness values increased significantly as the amount of almond flour increased (Table and Fig 2) As the reduction level of fat increased, the cohesiveness value increased (Table 6) This result was in agreement Table Effects of replacement levels of wheat flour by almond flour and sucrose syrup by maltitol syrup on the instrumentally determined textural and color parameters of Chinese moon cakea Instrument parametersb Almond flour replacement (%) 10 40 70 10 50 90 Hardness (g) Cohesiveness (g) Chewiness (g) L* a* b* 3359c 0.27a 185a 58.7c 3.6a 21.5 1881b 0.34b 606b 55.6b 3.9ab 21.0 524a 0.40c 1041c 48.6a 6.7b 20.5 1934 0.34 586 53.6 6.6b 22.0b 1857 0.34 668 53.9 5.3b 21.1ab 1974 0.34 578 55.4 2.3a 19.9a a b Maltitol syrup replacement (%) Mean values of two replicates in the same row for each ingredient followed by different letters were significantly different (P 0.05) L* value denotes darkness (0) and lightness (1 0); a* and b* denote red and yellow colors, respectively C Jia et al / Food Research International 41 (2008) 930–936 935 Table Effects of reduction level of peanut oil and addition level of gums on the instrumentally measured textural and color parameters of Chinese moon cakea Instrumental parametersb Peanut oil reductionc (%) Gums additiond (%) 10 15 0.1 0.2 0.3 Hardness (g) Cohesiveness (g) Chewiness (g) L* a* b* 1810 0.32a 608 54.0 5.9 21.4 1772 0.34b 638 55.3 4.4 21.3 2183 0.36c 586 53.6 3.9 20.3 2162 0.34 478a 55.9 4.4 20.8 1992 0.34 611ab 52.2 5.0 20.6 1611 0.34 743c 54.7 4.8 21.7 a Mean values of two replicates in the same row for each ingredient followed by different letters were significantly different (P 0.05) L* value denotes darkness (0) and lightness (100); a* and b* denote red and yellow colors, respectively c Percent of fat reduction based on total oil content (30% of flour weight) The reduction of 5%, 10%, and 15% results in the oil levels of 28.5%, 27.0%, and 25.5% in the formulation, respectively d Percent (of flour weight) of a mixture of gums (Xanthan and Arabic gum = 1:1) added b related with the cohesiveness values measured by the texture analyzer (R2 = 0.71) Fig PCA of the results from the instrumental analysis The two principal components, PC1 and PC2 explained 68.2% and 24.9% of variability, respectively F1–F9 are defined in the experimental design, as shown in Table 3.2.2 Analysis of color The color parameters L*, a*, and b* by minolta chroma meter are shown in Tables and and Fig An increasing replacement level by almond flour significantly decreased the L* value and increased a* value: the color of moon cake was darkened and the red color was strengthened (Table 5): both are desirable quality attributes Although the almond flour had a yellowish color, however, b* value was not significantly different with an increase in the amount of almond flour The increasing level of maltitol syrup to replace sucrose syrup decreased red (a*) and yellow (b*) color values (Table 5), as the sensory panel found the color intensity of the moon cake skin decreased with an increase in maltitol level (Table 3) The reduction of oil or addition of gums had no significant effects on the color parameters (Table 6), as were no significant changes in color intensity by sensory panels (Table 4) The R2 value between color values from sensory analysis and the instrumental values of L*, a* and b* was 0.59, 0.74, and 0.06, respectively Conclusions with the findings of several studies (Hughes, Mullen, & Troy, 1998; Pietrasik, 1999) The addition of gums substantially increased the chewiness values obtained by the texture analyzer (Table 6) as did for the SA-data (Table 4), probably because of contribution of gums’ ability to absorb high moisture (Perry, Swanson, Lyon, & Savage, 2003) High correlations were observed between the results from sensory analysis and instrumental textural analysis The hardness and chewiness scores of the sensory analysis and those from the textural analysis were significantly related to each other (R2 = 0.97 and 0.96, respectively) The stickiness scores from the sensory evaluation were cor- A traditional Chinese snack, moon cake, was formulated by substituting a part of wheat flour with American California almond flour, which is recognized to have a great health benefit by the US FDA The amount of almond flour was the key factor affecting sensory attributes and textural properties of the moon cake Sensory attributes, including hardness, chewiness, and stickiness, were significantly correlated to the textural parameters, including hardness, chewiness, and cohesiveness, measured by a texture analyzer The moon cake containing 70% almond flour from the traditional formulation was the most favored by the sensory panel, evidenced by their intensity assignment on the sensory attributes and it is more than 936 C Jia et al / Food Research International 41 (2008) 930–936 enough to satisfy the FDA health claim The sensory panel’s decision was in agreement with the data in Tables and 6, showing the highest values for ‘cohesiveness’, ‘chewiness’, and a* value and the lowest value for hardness and L* value, which are desirable attributes Further studies may be needed for fine-tuning the most optimum formulation of the moon cake with quality desired by consumers, including the eating quality, storability of the product, i.e., its shelf life, nutritional information in more details, and also the economical feasibility, etc before commercial production The highly significant correlations between the SA and the instrumental measurements show a great promise to be able to develop on-line quality measuring device to produce products 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