Substitution of wheat flour with almond drink dregs-based flour and its effect on cracker quality

Abstract

Cracker is one of the popular snacks in Indonesia. Not only are they easy to carry and ready to eat, but they are also inexpensive, have a long shelf life, and are consumed by all age groups. Typical snacks on the market are poor in nutritional value as they are majorly high in carbohydrates and fat, for example, fish crackers, bread, and sweet confectionaries. On the other hand, Indonesians' mean fibre intake is inadequate compared to the fibre Daily Allowance Intake in Indonesia. The increasing trend of vegetable-based drinks such as almond milk resulted in the rise of almond drink dregs – a by-product of almond milk resulting from the filtration step of almond milk processing. Incorporating almond drink dregs-based flour improved the nutritional profile of crackers, particularly the protein and fibre content, and did not affect the moisture content. The wheat and almond drink dregs-based flour ratio of 1:4 resulted in the highest protein and fibre content and the least force to deform the cracker. There was no significant impact of flour substitution on the organoleptic properties of crackers.