Formulation of Gluten-Free Cookies with Enhanced Quality and Nutritional Value

Abstract

Gluten-free (GF) products are indispensable for people with celiac disease because till date the only treatment is to follow a GF diet. Besides this, nowadays, people are more interested in following a healthy diet, so they are looking for nutritious food. Nine gluten-free formulations were developed: control (C1-100% rice flour and C2-100% quinoa flour) and samples with quinoa flour (87%) and with the addition of pea protein powder, pumpkin seed protein powder, coconut flour, aronia powder, carrot powder, tomatoes powder and ginger powder with a concentration of 13%, respectively, to show that quinoa flour is nutritionally richer than rice flour. Quinoa flour had a higher content of protein (12.23%), fiber (6.80%), ash (1.66%) compared to rice flour, which had 7.20% protein, 2.20% fiber and 0.60% ash. All supplemented cookies had higher levels of protein, fat and ash. The sensorial analysis showed that the best acceptance besides C1 was for S3_coconut, S4_aronia and S6_tomatoes cookies. Aronia cookie was the darkest and hardest sample. Besides C1 and C2, the softest sample was S6_tomatoes, while S3_coconut was the lightest. Gluten-free (GF) products are indispensable for people with celiac disease because till date the only treatment is to follow a GF diet. Besides this, nowadays, people are more interested in following a healthy diet, so they are looking for nutritious food. Nine gluten-free formulations were developed: control (C1-100% rice flour and C2-100% quinoa flour) and samples with quinoa flour (87%) and with the addition of pea protein powder, pumpkin seed protein powder, coconut flour, aronia powder, carrot powder, tomatoes powder and ginger powder with a concentration of 13%, respectively, to show that quinoa flour is nutritionally richer than rice flour. Quinoa flour had a higher content of protein (12.23%), fiber (6.80%), ash (1.66%) compared to rice flour, which had 7.20% protein, 2.20% fiber and 0.60% ash. All supplemented cookies had higher levels of protein, fat and ash. The sensorial analysis showed that the best acceptance besides C1 was for S3_coconut, S4_aronia and S6_tomatoes cookies. Aronia cookie was the darkest and hardest sample. Besides C1 and C2, the softest sample was S6_tomatoes, while S3_coconut was the lightest.