FORMULATION OF GLUTEN-FREE BREAD WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF HYDROXYPROPYL METHYLCELLULOSE, RAW BANANA FLOUR AND PROOF TIME: MODELLING, PROXIMATE AND SENSORY ANALYSES

Abstract

Semi-urbanization has increased the demand of bakery products triggering variousgluten-related disorders including Celiac Disease (CD), Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS), Gluten Ataxia and Wheat Allergy. Among these, CD accounts for nearly 1-2%global population. Gluten withdrawal- cornerstone treatment for CD is a bumpy road with nutritional deficiencies and poor quality of life. Additionally, there is a surge of people intentionally avoiding gluten for various reasons. The present work intends to optimize a formula for a gluten free (GF) bread and determine the effect of prooftime, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and raw banana flour at different levels on moisture content, bake loss, specific volume, texture parameters andcrust-crumb brightness (L*) using response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite rotatable design (CCRD).The results revealed moisture content, hardness, springiness, resilience and crust-crumb L*were significantly affected. Different proof time levels altered moisture content, bake loss and colour parameters with no influence on textural parameters. Increasing levels of HPMC impeded bake loss and crumb lightness but exacerbated hardness. Nonetheless, on its interaction with raw banana flour, there was antagonistic effect on hardness. Addition of raw banana flour darkened the bread. Thus, optimal conditions (HPMC 2%, raw banana flour 37.16% and proof time 40mins) were appliedto produce good quality bread. Furthermore, sensory and proximateanalyses of optimum GF bread were compared to whole wheat bread depicting higherprotein-fat content, lower carbohydrate content and overall acceptability score of 7.88for the former; the demand for which is steadily and incessantly expanding