Quality and sensory characteristics of cookies fortified with soybean and rice bran blended flour

The objective of this study was to determine the proximate compositions and sensory characteristics as well as functional properties of flour blends and cookies made from wheat, soybean and rice bran in the ratios of (M,) 100:0:0, (M₂) 90:6:4, (M₃) 80:12:8, (M₄) 70:17:13 and (M₅) 40:35:25%.

The cookies were prepared using the Okpala et al. (2013) method with slight changes. Moisture, protein, fat, fiber and carbohydrate contents were analysed using AOAC a standard analytical procedures. Fifty (50) semi-trained panelists evaluated the colour, taste, flavour, texture and overall acceptance of the cookie samples using a five point scale. Data were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the significance level was chosen at p<0.05.

The proximate composition of the flours differed significantly (p<0.05) from the control. Cookie sample (M₅) had the highest moisture content of 12.20%. The crude protein level ranged from 10.22% to 18.70%. The maximum fat content was (M₅) 13.88%. The greatest ash content was (M₅) with 3.54%. The carbohydrate and fiber contents ranged from 51.20% to 75.22% and 0.30% to 4.8%. The highest average crude fiber level was found in (M₅). Water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, bulk density, emulsion ability and foaming capacity were found to be in the ranges of 1.73–37.2%, 2.15–37.26%, 0.74–0.99%, 43.88–64.12% and 12.92 to 23.48%. The rice bran and soya bean flours substitution resulted in increased the functional characteristics and proximate composition. Sensory evaluation of the cookies differed significantly (p<0.05) with panellists preferring formulations made from 80% wheat flour, 12% soybeans flour and 8% rice bran powder.