Some Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Muffin Cakes Enriched with Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) Flour

Abstract

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a valuable enrichment source for cereal products due to its rich protein and well-balanced amino acid content. The high content of lysine, methionine and threonine amino acids that are found in limited levels in most of cereals, increases the importance of quinoa. In this study, physicochemical and sensory properties of muffin cakes which produced by 100% wheat flour (control sample) and replacing wheat flour with quinoa flour at different levels (25 and 50%) were investigated. The addition of quinoa flour to the formulation caused a significant increase in protein, fat, ash, amino acid contents and hardness value which was determined with texture profile analysis and a decrease in carbohydrate content and specific volume. Color analysis results of muffin cakes showed that increasing quinoa flour substitution ratio also increased the L* values of the crust and a* values of the crumb, while decreased the L* values of the crumb of cakes. According to sensory analyses, porosity, texture, taste and overall acceptability scores decreased significantly (p<0.05) with substituting wheat flour by 50% quinoa flour. It was determined that muffin cakes with 25% quinoa flour had similar sensory and textural properties with control muffin cakes. In the light of these analyses, quinoa can be considered as an alternative enrichment material due to its high content of essential components such as protein and fat as well as its rich amino acid content. © 2022 by the Author(s).