Physico-chemical and nutritional properties of wheat-sorghum-soybean composite flours and their biscuits

The present study assessed the effect of supplementation of wheat flour with sorghum and soy flour (full fat) at different levels of substitution, on the physico-chemical and nutritional properties of flour blends and their biscuits. The water absorption capacity of flour blends increased significantly (p< 0.05) while their gluten contents decreased significantly as the level of substitution of wheat flour with non-wheat flours increased. A positive and significant correlation was found between the gel consistency of the raw flours and the spread ratio of the biscuits. The protein, crude fat, crude fibre and ash content of soybean and wheat sorghum soybean composite flours and their biscuits was significantly (p< 0.05) higher while their carbohydrate and starch contents were significantly (p< 0.05) lower than control. The mean energy content of wheat- sorghum- soybean composite flour biscuits (515.28 Kcal/100g) was significantly (p< 0.05) higher than that of control biscuits at a marginally higher cost. The supplemented and control biscuits had good keeping quality and could be stored in polythene bags without any adverse changes in their organoleptic traits upto 60 days at room temperature.