Interest in vegetarian diets is growing due to their healthy benefits. In this study, twelve vegetarian diets were formulated from different vegetables such as cauliflower, green pea, green bean and green squash with different protein sources such as faba bean, chickpea and soybean flour as well as some other fixed ingredients. The twelve vegetarian diets which performed as ready-to-use and ready-to-eat were analyzed for their proximate composition, caloric value, minerals content, vitamins, phyto-pigments and antioxidant activity. In addition, the microbiological attributes such as total viable count, coliform group, Escherichia coli and molds and yeasts were enumerated. Moreover, all vegetarian diets were subjected to sensory evaluation using 7-hedonic scale toward (appearance, texture, taste, odor, juiciness, and overall acceptability) with 40 panelists.
Results of composite analysis indicated 67.52 to 73.54, 29.82 to 35.88, 2.63 to 3.29, 5.91 to 8.26, 7.06 to 13.64 and 40.46 to 54.12% for moisture, crude protein, lipids, ash, crude fiber and carbohydrates contents in fresh diets, respectively. After frying, moisture ranged from 42.56 to 54.23% and lipids ranged from 19.72 to 26.76%. Accordingly, crude protein, ash, crude fiber and carbohydrates contents ranged from 18.60 to 25.62, 4.97 to 7.27, 5.86 to 12.86 and 33.57 to 49.28%, respectively. All formulated vegetarian diets were rich in the minerals content. Significant differences (P<0.05) were found between macro- and micro-nutrients content of both fresh and fried vegetarian diets. All fresh formulas exhibit appropriate content of vitamin C, chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids which basically depends on the ingredients. Frying process dramatically influenced vitamin C, chlorophyll a, b and carotenoids contents. The lost were 91.02, 79.84, 55.79 and 15.14%, respectively. Significant differences (P<0.05) were found in total phenolic compounds content and the antioxidant activity among the most prepared formulas in either fresh or fried vegetarian diets. In addition, the highly consumer acceptability of prepared vegetarian diets confirmed that chickpea formulas were best prepared vegetarian diets. Significant differences (P<0.05) in the overall acceptability mean value were found between chickpeas formulas and other formulas. The total viable count of fried diets was very low comparing to the fresh formulas. Whereas no coliform groups, Escherichia coli and molds and yeasts have been detected. Finally, the possibility of producing healthy vegetarian diet formulas using common vegetable kinds and protein sources could provide promising approach for improving the traditional meals and human health.