Development and Analysis of Sorghum Crackers

Abstract

Bakery industry is the major food processing industry in India and stands second position in the manufacture of biscuits. Bakery products are the most popular food products consumed by all age groups. The demand for bakery products is increasing in day today life because of easy availability and ready to eat convenient products having better shelf-life. Crackers are crisp baked products, chemically leavened or fermented. These are light in weight with longer shelf life. Now a day’s millets are gaining popularity. In the development of sorghum crackers product, the main ingredients used are sorghum, refined wheat flour and basil leaf powder. Refined wheat flour is added in proportions to obtain soft, crispy, light fermented crackers as they cannot be made with whole sorghum flour because it is gluten free and posses less binding nature resulting in harder and heavier product. In general, the higher the gluten content in the wheat the higher the protein content of the flour. The higher the protein content of flour, the better is its ability to trap carbon dioxide gas giving lighter weight to biscuit. In the present study related to product development, sorghum crackers are developed by using sorghum flour and basil leaf powder in different variations. To acquire the beneficial properties of basil, the leaves are vacuum dried, powdered and incorporated in the product. On the whole, the nutritional aspect is increased by developing crackers with sorghum flour and basil leaves powder. Different variations are developed based on refined wheat flour and sorghum flour are 50(S):50(RWF), 60(S):40(RWF), 70(S):30(RWF) and basil powder is taken in same amount for all the variations. By laboratory evaluation of (chemical and sensory) 70(S):30(RWF) variant has got the highest acceptance.