Effects of Carob Flour on Volume, Color, Texture, Sensory Properties, Antioxidant Profile, and Nutritional Quality of Gluten-Free Corn Cake with Buffalo Cream

Abstract

The study’s objectives were to produce high-quality gluten-free cake, to investigate the effect of carob flour on volume; texture; color; sensory properties; contents of total dietary fiber and α-tocopherol; and composition of macronutrients, minerals, fatty acids, and phenolic compounds of cakes. In this study, corn flour was substituted with carob flour at different levels (10, 20, 30, and 40%, w/w). Buffalo cream was used as a fat replacer due to its low lipid content (65 g/100 g). Carob flour caused an increase in cake volume and a decrease in baking loss. The texture properties of gluten-free cakes were improved by carob flour. The gluten-free cakes including carob flour had a lower brightness. The contents of total carbohydrates, total dietary fiber, ash, phosphorous, calcium, potassium, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, α-tocopherol, and phenolic compounds, including caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, trans-ferulic acid, o-coumaric acid, cinnamic acid, rosmarinic acid, catechin, rutin, resveratrol, quercetin, and naringenin, increased with increasing levels of carob flour in the gluten-free cakes. The highest sensory score (4.3) was given to the gluten-free cake with 20% (w/w) carob flour. The best one in terms of the total dietary fiber (5.37 g/100 g), important minerals (phosphorus – 569.8 mg/kg, calcium – 587.0 mg/kg, potassium – 400.6 mg/kg), essential fatty acids (linoleic acid and linolenic acid – 1.08 and 0.36 g/100 g total fatty acids, respectively), and antioxidants was the gluten-free cake with 40% (w/w) carob flour. If the protein content and sensory properties were also taken into account, the gluten-free cake including 20% (w/w) carob flour could be preferred.