Quality Evaluation of Wheat-Mungbean Flour Blends and Their Utilization in Baked Products

Abstract

The prevalence of protein energy malnutrition is increasing in developing economies especially in Pakistan owing to poverty and consumer’s reliance on plant sources to meet their energy requirements. The food diversification is one tool to eliminate the protein energy malnutrition and pulses holds potential for their utilization in cereal-based products to improve the protein quality. The core objective of present research investigation is devising strategy to curtail protein malnutrition through composite flour technology. For the purpose, wheat variety (Inqulab-91) and mungbean variety (NM-2006) were used for preparation of flour blends that were further evaluated for their quality and their potential application in baked products. The results regarding the farinographic characteristics indicated that water absorption capacity (60.8%) and mixing tolerance index (120 BU) were higher in 15% and 25% mungbean flour blend, respectively. Moreover, mungbean addition improved some chemical attributes e.g. protein from 5.40-9.30%) fat from 21.3-23.7% and fiber from 0.40-0.95%. Similarly, calorific value also increased from 485-501.1 kcal/100 g. Results pertaining to mineral profile portrayed the increasing tendency for sodium, potassium, iron, magnesium, zinc and manganese with gradual increase in mungbean flour. Sensory characteristics of the product were also improved significantly. In the nutshell, mungbean is an ideal candidate for improving the protein contents of cereal-based products.