Evaluation of functional, physicochemical, textural and sensorial properties of multi-millet-based biscuit

Abstract

Consumer desire for typical health-promoting snacks is on the rise. Millet is thought to provide consumer health benefits and can be used in treating celiac disease and gastrointestinal problems. In this study, wheat flour (WF) was substituted with multi-millet flour (MMF) at different levels (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%) in producing the multi-millet biscuit. MMF was made by combining an equal proportion of barnyard, finger, kodo and pearl millet. The functional, physicochemical and sensorial properties of the biscuits were examined. The water holding and oil absorption capacity increased by increasing the proportion of MMF to WF. Biscuits made from MMF had significantly more fat, ash and fibre (P < 0.05) than the control (100% WF). In comparison to the control biscuit, the 100% MMF-based biscuit had a higher total phenolic content (50.30 ± 1.64 mg of GAE/100 g) and antioxidant activity (13.85 ± 0.33 mg of GAE/100 g). There was also a decrease in L* and b* and an increase in a* on increasing proportion of MMF, indicating that the biscuit colour darkened significantly (P < 0.05). The sensory analysis indicated that biscuits with 40% MMF were most acceptable compared to the rest of the samples. This study provides reference in usage of MMF for producing nutritional multi-millet-based biscuit.