Development of Functional Snack Food from Almond Press Cake and Pearl Millet Flour

Abstract

Defatted almond cake (DAC), a major by-product of the almond oil industry, was explored in combination with pearl millet (PM) to develop functional snack food using extrusion technology. The optimum extrusion conditions for developing snacks from DAC (20%) and PM (80%) flour blends were determined through a numerical optimization technique. The optimized product was evaluated for various quality parameters. The expansion ratio of 3.56, bulk density 0.11g/cm3, hardness 30.55N, water absorption index 6.22g/g, and water solubility index 14.56% indicates that its physical characteristics were in the desirable range, while total phenol content of 56.91 ± 2.09 (mg GAE/100g), total flavonoid content of 18.29 ± 0.4 (QE/100g) and DPPH radical scavenging activity (total antioxidant activity) of 89.74± 0.8% indicates its superior bioactive properties. Production and consumption of such snack types on a large scale can improve the population's nutritional status, besides adding value to the defatted almond cake.