FORMULATION OF WITHANIA SOMNIFERA BASED HERBAL COOKIES USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

Abstract

Herbal based functional foods are extensively used for the prevention and treatment of several health disorders. The present study aims to formulate herbal cookies using Withania somnifera leaf powder, an ayurveda component with enhanced the nutraceutical value. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize five influencing components in cookies preparation. It includes refined wheat flour, Withania somnifera leaf powder, sugar powder, butter and cocoa powder. All the selected five ingredients were choose as the variables and sensory parameters such as appearance, colour, texture, taste and flavour obtained through Nine-point hedonic scale analysis were the responses. After initial trial of experiment, the upper and lower limits for the independent variables were fixed. The relatively high coefficient values were obtained for all the selected responses and hence developed models are statistically accurate. Through three-dimensional response surface plots optimal range independent variables were optimized. The shelf life of the product assessed through microbial analysis and sensory evaluation gave favourable results. Hence, herbal cookies optimized through RSM tool will be novel herbal supplement and could find a prominent position in the both pharmaceutical and food sector