Abstract:
A novel rice-based snack enriched with chicory root flour (CRF) was developed by twin-
screw extrusion. Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is one of the promising medicinal plants for the
development of innovative food and may be considered a functional food ingredient. Central
composite design (CCD) was employed to generate snack formulations by varying feed moisture
(M, 16.3–22.5%), screw speed (SS, 500–900 rpm) and CRF content (20–40%). The optimization
according to artificial neural network modeling and a genetic algorithm was applied to define
optimal process conditions (17.6% moisture, 820 rpm and 24.1% of CRF) for obtaining the product
with the highest expansion (3.34), crispiness (3.22 × 10−3), volume (2040 m3), degree of gelatinization
(69.70%) and good color properties. Bulk density (110.33 g/L), density (250 kg/m3), and hardness
(98.74 N) resulted in low values for the optimal sample. The descriptive sensory analysis evaluated
low hardness and bitterness, with high crispiness for the optimal extrudate. This study points to
the possibility of a novel chicory enriched extrudate production with desirable physicochemical and
sensory properties.
