Fiber rich snack food products incorporated with green gram husk and their suitability for diabetics

A major by-product of dal mills is pulse husk which is basicallyused as ruminant feed. Its nutritional significance in human diet is less known. Keeping in view that pulse husk is a rich source of dietary fiber, the present study was undertaken to formulate various recipes of snack food items using green gram husk in varied proportions. The husk was incorporated in different traditional snack food item recipes viz., bread, biscuit, muffin, mathri andpakora in varying proportions (5–15 per cent) and the acceptability of different husk incorporated products was tested through sensory evaluation by score card method for different sensory qualities. The best accepted product was evaluated for various nutritional parameters and glycemic index. The results indicated that among all the food items prepared biscuit with 12.5 per cent incorporation of green gram husk found to be most acceptable. It was further evaluated for nutrient composition and glycemic response in normal subjects in the age group of 25–28 years. Appreciable amount of iron (23.75 mg/100g), calcium (113.33 mg/100g) and total dietary fiber (14.98%) content was seen in fiber rich biscuits. The glycemic index of fiber rich biscuits (46.26) was significantly low than the control biscuits (68.70). Thus the green gram husk incorporated biscuits with high dietary fiber and low glycemic index can be recommended for inclusion in the diet of people suffering from diabetes and constipation.