Cereal bar enriched with cowpea bean whole flour, cashew nut, and raisin banana

Abstract

The objective of this study is to develop a cereal bar enriched with cowpea bean whole flour, cashew nut, and raisin banana and evaluate its acceptance and chemical composition. Three formulations with varying concentrations of cowpea were developed: B1 with 5.25%, B2 with 7.5%, and B3 with 15% flour. Ten trained tasters evaluated the bar’s sensory attributes using the hedonic scale. After this test, 100 untrained tasters analyzed two formulations using multiple and pairwise comparisons, and purchase intention tests. Moisture was determined by oven drying and ash content was determined after calcination of samples in a muffle furnace. Protein content was obtained by the Macro-Kjeldahl method and lipids were isolated using the Soxhlet extraction method. Carbohydrates were determined by difference and minerals by atomic emission spectrometry with an inductively coupled plasma source. The trained team scored bar B3 with the lowest average for flavor. The non-trained tasters’ test showed that bars B1 and B2 are commercially viable and presented no difference in the pairwise comparison. The ash, lipid, and protein content increased on using a higher concentration of cowpea. Bar B2 presented a higher content of ashes, lipids, proteins, and the lowest amount of carbohydrates and humidity. The bars were identified as a source of iron, phosphorus, magnesium, and zinc, with high content of copper and manganese. Thus, the cereal bar has a high nutrient content and sensory viability.