All about Roti Telur

Roti telur is one of the best breakfast for me in the world. It can be served as breakfast, lunch, dinner and even supper too. The roti telur is crispy and flaky on outside, flat and fluffy with the yummy egg favour inside, what a wonderful matching!! In Malaysia, we can find it in any mamak stall. Normally, it is being served with a dhal or curry. The ingredients of the roti telur are including all purpose flour, egg, water and ghee. In the process of roti telur making, flattening and tossing the dough are need. Then, break a fresh egg inside the dough and fry it on a flat iron skillet with some oils to make it brown in colour and crispy taste.




Metabolism Involved

From the above table, main source of nutrient in roti telur is carbohydrate, which is contributes by the flour. The major function of carbohydrates is to provide energy to our body. Carbohydrates digestion begins in mouth, where salivary amylase is produced to hydrolyze starch into shorter polysaccharides. Then, the smaller chain of polysaccharides is then passing into the stomach and stomach works to mix and churn the food, which aids in further digestion of carbohydrates. The enzymatic breakdown of carbohydrates is then restart in small intestines, where it is the main carbohydrates digestion takes place. In small intestines, pancreas secretes pancreatic amylase continues the digestion of starch and break it down into disaccharides. Meanwhile, the digestive enzymes, sucrase, maltase and lactase convert the disaccharides molecules into monosaccharide, glucose, fructose and galactose for absorption. Glucose, galactose and fructose travel to the liver via portal vein, where galactose and fructose are converted to glucose or used for energy. Liver stores and releases glucose as needed to maintain blood glucose level (Insel, Turner, Ross, 2003).

Figure 1: Digestion of Carbohydrate



(Insel et al., 2003)


Roti telur also provide protein to our body. Egg inside the roti telur contributes the most to the protein source. In the mouth, initial physical break-down of protein begins with chewing and grinding of the teeth while saliva helps in moistens the food. Then, the bolus goes down to the digestive tract and enters the stomach. The stomach continues physical break-down and begins chemical break-down by secreting a substance called pepsinogen. This secretion reacts with the stomach acid to produce the protein-digesting enzyme pepsin. This enzyme separates proteins into intermediate products of digestion; called peptone and proteose. After that, muscles in the stomach walls then move the food into the duodenum, where duodenum and pancreas work together to complete the chemical break-down of protein into single amino acid molecules with the help of trypsin. Trypsin accomplishes depolymerization of protein through a process known as hydrolysis. When all of the proteins have been broken down, the amino acids are moved into the small intestine for absorption (ThinkQuest.org, n.d.).

There are large amount of oil that was used in making of roti telur in order to get a smooth texture. The oil makes the roti telur is high in fat.


Lipids digestion and absorption is different with the carbohydrates and the amino acids.


1st step:

(Bowen, 2007)

Bile salt is secreted to accomplish the solubilization of the lipids and makes it available to pancreatic lipases (TheMedicalBiochemistry.org, n.d.).


2nd step:

(Bowen, 2007)

Pancreatic lipases help in generate free fatty acids and mixtures of mono- and diacylglycerols from dietary triacylglycerols (TheMedicalBiochemistry.org, n.d.).


3rd step:

(Bowen, 2007)

As monoglycerides and fatty acids are liberated through the action of lipase, they retain their association with bile acids and complex with other lipids to form structures called micelles (Bowen, 2007).


After the three main sources of nutrients been digested, they are passes into other metabolism pathways to serve as energy fuel of our body. Three of the metabolisms are interrelated as shown in the figure below.


Figure 2: Interrelationships among carbohydrates, protein and fat in human metabolism.

(Ophardt, 2003)


Physiological benefit for Roti Telur

The roti telur is a local food that high in carbohydrate. Therefore, it can help us to provide energy to cells in the body, especially the brain which is the only carbohydrate-dependent organ in the body. It also provides the easily available energy for oxidative metabolism. The main carbohydrate source of roti telur is wheat flour. It provided 3-15g of dietary fiber per cup of serving (Wheat foods council, 2005).


This dietary fiber can play an important role in the digestive tract. It can help to relieve the constipation problem by absorbing water to soften the stool and eliminate it easily. Besides that, it may also help to lower the blood cholesterol. It can bind to the bile acids, increase their excretion and may result the liver make the new bile acids by using the stored cholesterol. In addition, it also contains some vitamins B for cell metabolism and phosphorus for bone health (Wheat foods council, 2005).


Besides of the carbohydrate, the protein can also be found in roti telur. Since the main nutrient for egg is protein. The egg protein contains all the essential amino acids which are requiring for our body. They are important for growth and maintaining every kind of cells in our body. From body development, replenishment of lost blood, healing of wound, replacement of dead cells to the growth of hair and nail, all are require protein to manage. Usually, enzyme, hormones and antibodies are the form of protein. They promote the healthy metabolic and physiological process and boost our nervous and immunity system. Besides that, when there is no fat and carbohydrate food source to provide the sufficient calories, the proteins are used to degrade and generate the calories which are necessary for our body.



Modified roti telur and the benefits of it

To get a healthier roti telur, we can actually modify it with three ways. Firstly, we can use olive oil instead of ghee for frying it. Olive oil is monounsaturated fat. It may lower the low-density lipoprotein, LDL (Cardoso, 2006). Consumption of olive oil can lower the risk of coronary heart disease by reducing LDL levels and blood clot formation. There are many antioxidant phytochemicals can be found in it. These antioxidant phytochemicals may protect the blood vessels and cells against the cancer-causing substances also. Ghee contains saturated fats and cholesterol. When we consumed in excess, the risk of heart disease may increase (Cardoso, 2006). Therefore, this change may help us to reduce the cholesterol level.


Besides that, we can choose the omega-3 eggs to use in roti telur making. As we know, the eggs are high in cholesterol. If we use the omega-3 eggs, may improve our blood lipids and cholesterol level. Since the omega-3 fatty acids may increase the ratio of high density lipoprotein (HDL) to LDL in blood (Dr. Denise, 2007). In addition, it is also important for brain growth and development.


In addition, adding some vegetables or fruits like tomato in the roti telur making may increase the consumption vitamin A and C. These two vitamins are lack in the present roti telur. Vitamin A is important for eyes and Vitamin C is an effective antioxidant. They are good for our immune system also.



Reference:

• Bowen, R., 2007, Absorption of Lipids, [Online]. Available at: http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/smallgut/absorb_lipids.html > Accessed on 22nd February 2009.
• Cardoso, R., 2006. Is Your Cooking Oils Healthy? [Online]. Available from: http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2006/feb/21health.htm > Accessed on 17 February, 2009.
• Dr. Denise, M., 2007. Eggs—Eat Your Yolks. [Online]. Available from: http://www.naturalhealthtechniques.com/Diet_Nutrition/EggsEatYourYolks.htm > Accessed on 17 February, 2009.
• Insel, P.M., Turner, R.E., Ross,D., 2003, Nutrition, [Online]. Available at: http://books.google.com.my/books?id=46o0PzPI07YC&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=carbohydrate+enter+mouth,+salivary+amylase+secreted&source=web&ots=GixyhpKEHN&sig=rnl2wQ4PvjduJuKPtVrj-q3a1mg&hl=en&ei=GRCcSay0D8nWkAXI7pybBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result > Accessed on: 18th February 2009.
• NutriWeb Malaysia, 2009. Malaysian Food Composition Database [Online]. Available from: http://www.nutriweb.org.my/cgi-bin/dbrecords.cgi?foodno=221024∂=Raw%20and%20Processed&fname_en=Roti%20telur&part1=Cooked%20Foods&group=Cooked%20Dishes%20and%20Meals&foodname_mal=Roti%20telur&subgroup=Cereals >Accessed on 18th February 2009
• Ophardt, C. E., 2003. Overview of Carbohydrate Metabolism. [Online]. Available from: http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/600glycolysis.html > Accessed on 17 February, 2009.
• The Medical Biochemistry, n.d., Intestinal Uptake of Lipids. [Online]. Available at: [http://themedicalbiochemistrypage.org/lipoproteins.html] > Accessed on: 22nd February 2009.
• ThinkQuest.org, n.d., Protein Digestion: A Trip Through the Gut, [Online]. Available at: [http://library.thinkquest.org/11226/main/c14txt.htm] >Accessed on: 22nd February 2009.
• Wheat foods council, 2005. Grains of Truth about the Wheat Flour. [Online]. Available from: http://www.wheatfoods.org/_FileLibrary/Product/43/Wheat_Flour.pdf > Accessed on 17 February, 2009.

Prepare by : Quah Wei Ying and Tan Hui Wen.