Quality assessment of cookies produced from wheat flour and malted barley (<i>Hordeum vulgare</i>) bran blends

Cookies quality produced from blends of wheat flour (WF) and malted barley bran (MBB) at different ratios of 100/0, 95/5, 90/10, 80/20 and 50/50% was investigated. The proximate, physical and sensory properties of the cookie samples were evaluated using standard laboratory procedures. Cookies with 100% wheat flour (WF) serves as a reference sample. The data generated were statistically analyzed by one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS (version 16). The proximate results of the cookies showed an increase in protein (11.21–15.64%), ash (1.41–1.88%), fat (29.86–32.36%), crude fibre (1.32–6.38%) as well as decrease in moisture content (4.06–3.34%), carbohydrate (52.79–40.05%) and energy value (525.02–509.98 kcal/100 g) as the substitution level of MBB increases. The physical properties of the cookies; weight (16.32–20.00 g), diameter (50.2–57.3 mm), thickness (6.30–6.60 mm), spread ratio (7.97–8.68) increased while the breaking strength (169.33–290.26 g) decreased as the levels of MBB increased. However, the sensory results showed that the cookies varied in colour (7.1–8.4), taste (4.1–7.6), flavour (4.3–8.3), crispiness (5.2–8.2) and overall acceptability (5.4–8.8). The reference sample had the highest sensory scores for all the attributes except for colour and crispiness, while cookies with 5 and 10% malted barley bran incorporation had the highest score for crispiness and colour respectively. Based on the parameters analyzed, 5% malted barley bran incorporation could be utilized for cookies production owing to its baking potential characteristics. In conclusion, the high protein, ash and fibre contents of the cookies made with malted barley bran flour substitution is very important as this could make a significant contribution to the nutrient intake by consumers who are likely to be children.