Physico-Chemical, Textural and Sensory Evaluation of Spelt Muffins Supplemented with Apple Powder Enriched with Sugar Beet Molasses
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Date
2022-06-14
Authors
Lončar, Biljana
Pezo, Lato
Filipović, Vladimir
Nićetin, Milica
Filipović, Jelena 
Pezo, Milada
Šuput, Danijela
Aćimović, Milica
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Foods
Abstract
The present study investigated the effect of incorporating 10, 20, and 30% apple powder obtained by freeze-drying, and apple powder produced with osmotic pre-treatment in sugar beet molasses solution, into muffins. The powder was freeze-dried and introduced as a whole spelt wheat flour replacement in muffins. The obtained products were investigated for their chemical composition and technological properties, and were subjected to a sensory analysis as well as a consumer acceptance test. Increasing the substitution level from 0 to 30% apple powder lowered the protein, starch, and fat content, while moisture content, sugar, and cellulose showed the opposite trend. The sensory analysis results indicated that the addition of apple powder or apple powder with osmotic pre-treatment (apple OT+Lyo powder) to the ingredients of muffins positively affected the taste, smell, mastication, and appearance of the final product. Consumers rated the muffins with 30% apple OT+Lyo powder as the most acceptable. Principal component analysis, an artificial neural network, and global sensitivity analysis were utilized to differentiate among muffin samples, and to estimate the corresponding influence of the substitution of spelt flour with apple powder or apple OT powder on the observed quality and nutritional parameters of the muffins.
Description
The results revealed that spelt muffins with the addition of osmotically pre-treated apple powder were nutritionally enriched compared to the control muffins. Furthermore, by comparing the chemical composition of muffin samples, it was observed that the addition of osmotically pre-treated apple powder increases moisture, cellulose, and sugar content, as well as Ca, K, and Na content as a consequence of the mass transfer from sugar beet molasses. These results open an innovative aspect in which an agro-industrial side product, such as sugar beet molasses, could be utilized as a promising osmotic solution with the possibility of raising the nutritional properties of baked products.
The percentage addition of apple powder (10 to 30%) and osmotically treated apple powder affects the reduction in the specific volume of the finished product without affecting specific weight. Moreover, it alters the muffin’s textural attributes by decreasing the muffin samples’ hardness and springiness.
Yoon’s interpretation method performed on a created ANN model recognized the addition of osmotically pre-treated apple powder and osmotic treatment as the most influential parameters that affected the observed parameters.
Based on sensory evaluation of the muffins, percentage increases in apple powder and osmotically treated apple powder positively affect taste and smell, while slightly reducing the appearance grade of the product.
According to the consumer test results, the sample with the highest content of osmotically dehydrated apple was the one that achieved the highest scores. It can be concluded that the addition of apple powder osmotically pre-treated in sugar beet molasses to muffin-like bakery products as a flour supplement could be recommended as a valuable ingredient due to its nutritional and sensory properties.
Keywords
artificial neural network, molasses, supplement apple powder, spelt muffins, principal component analysis