Development of Functional Muffins from Wheat Flour-Carrot Pomace Powder using Fenugreek Gum as Fat Replacer

Abstract

Carrot stands out as one of the globally consumed vegetables, and its juice production yields significant quantities of valuable by-products, notably pomace. To mitigate environment impacts and enhance production cost efficiency, incorporating carrot pomace as an ingredient in diverse food items become a viable strategy. This study investigated the potential of carrot pomace powder (CPP) and fenugreek gum (FG) as fat-replacers and dietary fiber sources in muffins. The flour samples i.e. wheat flour (WF) and CPP were analyzed for their physico-chemical, functional and pasting properties. CCP contained crude fiber (27.6 %), moisture (8.75 %), protein (4.25 %), fat (0.2 %), and ash (1.2 %), indicating higher amounts of ash, and fiber contents than WF. Further, WF was replaced with CPP at different levels (5 %, 10 %, 15 % and 20 %), and FG was added at 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 g levels to analyze their effects on different attributes of muffin. The results showed that muffin fortified with CPP showed an increase in crude fiber content, the highest observed for MF4 of 1.19 %. The water and oil absorption capabilities of WF (143 % and 151 %) were lower than CPP (181 % and 163 %) blends. Addition of CPP and FG increased the flour paste viscosity and specific volume (SV). Moreover, sensory analysis showed the firmness, taste and appearance of muffins were improved by the addition of CPP. The most popular muffins were those made with 10 % CPP and 0.2 g FG. In conclusion, CPP and FG can be effectively utilized to produce fiber-enriched low-fat muffins with improved nutritional profiles and acceptable sensory characteristics.