Evaluation of Nutritional and Physicochemical Properties of Biscuits Enriched with Roasted Lentil Flour and Rice Bran Powder

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Azam Ayoubi

Mohhammad Balvardi

Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/ifstrj.2026.96693.1523

Abstract

Introduction
Addition of dietary fiber sources to high-consumption food products is a smart way to increase the amount of fiber intake through the daily diet. Biscuits are one of the most popular bakery products. Wheat flour is the most significant ingredient for biscuit production in terms of quantity, its quality plays a major role in the quality of the final product, especially in terms of nutritional value and texture. Fiber sources such as cereals, legumes, and other plant products such as nuts, fruits, and vegetables can be used to enrich the wheat flour with the aim of improving the nutritional properties of wheat flour-based products.
Lentils are one of the most important legumes with high nutritional value and low anti-nutritional factors, traditionally consumed as a minimally processed product. The functional properties of lentil proteins are one of the reasons for their special potential application in the production of various types of food products. Due to the presence of various essential amino acids such as leucine, isoleucine, lysine, phenylalanine, and valine, as well as high levels of fiber, B group of vitamins, and minerals, the addition of lentil flour, even flour prepared from low-grade lentils, aids in improving wheat flour and increasing the quality of bakery products.
In recent years, attention of many manufacturers and researchers has been directed towards the use of various cereal bran as a source of fiber in the production of bakery products. Rice bran is a by-product of rice processing and milling and, as a cheap source of fiber, can be included in the human diet. Considering the importance and benefits of using dietary fibers in bakery products, in the present study, the effects of using roasted lentil flour and rice bran powder (at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15% l) as natural sources of dietary fiber, on the physicochemical and sensory properties of biscuits were studied.
Materials and Methods
To prepare the biscuit dough, 350 gr flour, 105 gr f sugar, 105 gr shortening, one egg, 3.5 gr vanilla, 1.75 gr salt, and 10.5 gr baking powder were used. After molding, baking was done at 160 °C for 15 minutes.
The moisture of biscuit was measured using AACC 44-19 method and pH was measured using a digital pH meter (3020, Jenway, UK). Ash was measured according to AACC 08-01 standard method (2000), protein was measured according to AACC 46-18 standard method (1999), and the raw fiber was measured after acid and alkaline digestion according to AACC 32-10 standard method (2000). The Folin-Ciocalteu method was used to measure the total phenolic content, and free radical scavenging capacity was measured using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Dimensions of biscuit (diameter and thickness) were measured using calipers, biscuit texture firmness was measured using a Brookfield texture analyzer (Brookfield, CT3, USA), and biscuit color (a* (red-green), b* (yellow-blue), and L* (lightness or whiteness) indices were measured using a colorimeter (TES-135A, Taiwan). Evaluation of sensory characteristics including color, taste, crispness and firmness of texture, and overall acceptance was performed using the five-point hedonic scale method. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA (SPSS 26, Duncan, P<0.05).
Results and Discussion
The results of statistical analysis showed that partial replacement of wheat flour in the biscuit formula with roasted lentil flour and rice bran powder increased the contents of fiber (to 1.39%), protein (to 8.62%), ash (to 1.97%), total phenols (to 131.27 mg GAE/kg), diameter (to 4.4 cm), expansion coefficient (to 8.23), yellowness (to 26.79), redness (to 6.92) and browning index (to 58.07) of the biscuit. Following the increase in the level of total phenols, the antioxidant activity (to 31.9%) of the biscuit also increased. Although using roasted lentil flour decreased fat content of the biscuit but rice bran powder retrieve it (to 23.65%). By reducing the amount of wheat flour and increasing the amount of roasted lentil flour and rice bran powder, the pH (to 6.62), moisture (to 2.95%), thickness (to 0.54 cm), texture firmness (to 1686 gf), and lightness (to 66.13) of the biscuit reduced. The scores of sensory attributes decreased with increasing the level of replacement of wheat flour with studied additives. However, the results indicated the overall acceptability of biscuits containing low levels (3-9%) of roasted lentil flour and rice bran powder.
Conclusion
Given that roasted lentil flour and rice bran powder are rich in fiber and contain appropriate amounts of vitamins and minerals, and considering the growing consumer demand for such nutrients,  replacing these items with wheat flour (at 3-9%) in production of high-consumption products such as biscuits will contribute significantly to health-related issues, especially in terms of obtaining the recommended amounts of fiber.

Keywords

Antioxidant activity

Cereal bran

Functional properties

Lentil flour

Wheat flour

Subjects

• Food Technology

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Authors retain the copyright. This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

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