Breakfast cereals from whole grain and Indian horse chestnut flours obtained through extrusion: Physical, mechanical and functional characteristics

Abstract

The objective of this research was to optimize feed composition (whole wheat flour (WWF), whole barley flour (WBF), whole corn flour (WCF) and Indian horse chestnut flour (IHCF)) and evaluating the effects of different ratios of feed composition on the functional, physical and mechanical characteristics of extrudates. Response Surface Methodology was used to optimize the ingredients. Results found that breakfast cereals with 8.3% of WWF, 8.75% of WBF and 3.75% of IHCF had higher rehydration ratios and desirable hardness, porosity, bulk density and color as compared to other treatment samples. Increasing the whole-grain reduced water solubility index, water absorption index and surface mechanical energy. The optimum processing conditions obtained by numerical optimization for the development of breakfast cereals were 10% WWF, 10% WBF, 2.5% IHCF, and 77.5% WCF at 14% of moisture, 110ºC temperature and screw speed of 380 rpm. Therefore, the development of breakfast cereals through extrusion cooking of mixture of whole-grains and IHCF is feasible, providing the base for fiber rich healthier snack food products.