Hafiza Mamoona Ahmad1*, Hira Jabeen2, Shabbir Ahmad2 and Ayesha Syed2*
1Department of Food Science and Technology, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan 2National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
*Corresponding author: monaahmadmsfst01@gmail.com (HMA); miss.syed96@gmail.com (AS)
Healthy and nutritious food is a basic need of humans; therefore, the food industry is striving to develop healthy food products with fewer calories and improved nutritional quality. Nowadays, one of the major challenges to the food industry is developing novel wheat-free products, especially for celiac patients, as people are gluten intolerant to this disease. Celiac disease is spreading day by day, and it affects 1-2% of the population all over the world. Thus, the food industry needs to use new sustainable wheat alternatives for the development of bakery products. Therefore, the present study is designed to develop gluten-free muffins from plant-based sustainable raw materials such as maize, sorghum, and chickpea. Maize flour (50, 60, and 70%), sorghum flour (20, 25, 30, 40, and 50%), and chickpea flour (20, 25, 30, 40, and 50%) were utilized to prepare composite flour. The composite flour was then analyzed for proximate composition and rheological characteristics. The findings revealed that different flour blend compositions had significantly affected flour's nutritional profile and rheological properties. Afterward, gluten-free muffins were developed and examined for proximate composition, mineral, color, texture, and sensory assessment. The results showed a significant increase in protein (30.8%), fiber (5.31%), ash (2.93%), Cu (0.35?mg/L), Mg (1.23mg/L), Fe (1.30mg/L) content and decrease in moisture (9.20%), NFE (15.9%), and Cd (0.10mg/L) content of gluten-free muffins as compared to wheat muffins. Moreover, during the storage study, an increase in texture hardness (30.9 to 34.3%) value and a decrease in moisture (9.72 to 6.59%) value for developed muffins was observed from day 1 to day 21. The crust color (l*, a*, b*) values and sensory score decrease significantly as compared to control. Conclusively, maize (60%), sorghum (20%), and chickpea (20%) act as appropriate combinations of flour to prepare gluten-free muffins with excellent nutritional value, color attributes, and consumer acceptance.