Sensory and nutritional quality of Moringa oleifera leaf powder incorporated multi-millet ready to eat (RTE) snack

Abstract

The present study aimed at developing value-added multi-millet ready to eat (RTE) snack by incorporating Moringa oleifera (Drumstick) leaf powder (MOLP) at different concentrations viz., 0%, 5%, 10% 15% and evaluation of corresponding sensory and nutritional properties. The sensory evaluation revealed that newly formulated 5% MOLP snacks had higher overall sensory acceptability after control snacks. Besides, nutritional values also demonstrated that MOLP (15%) incorporated multi millet snacks contained abundant minerals including iron 99.09±0.6 mg/kg, zinc 20.27±0.3 mg/kg and calcium 4374±22.7 mg/kg. The protein (9.681±0.01 g/100 g) and antioxidants (230.6±0.46 µg/100 g) contents were also (p<0.05) higher, compared to control. The results suggested that incorporation of Moringa powder in RTE snacks production could be used to develop functional food with enhanced minerals, protein and antioxidants.