Functional Characterization of Fiber-enriched Breakfast Cereals Blends

This study evaluated the functional properties of fiber-enriched breakfast cereals formulated from millet, malted mungbean and tigernut flours using quadratic response surface models. The data obtained were subjected to regression/statistical analysis as prescribed by the RSM. The regression coefficients were used to test the models. The linear, binary and ternary blends were generated and further highlighted by the response surface plot. The blend ratio ‘31.16g millet, 21.72g mungbean, 47.11g tigernut’ with high desirability of 0.951 was selected after optimization and were validated. The blend will be suitable for production of high gluten-free fiber breakfast cereal and other food products such as bread, cake, sausage and biscuit. The developed regression models will enable food industries maximized/optimized the blending of these flours in production of aforementioned food products so as to increase the product quality. The results showed that blend composition significantly influenced bulk density (BD), water absorption capacity (WAC), oil absorption capacity (OAC), solubility (S), emulsification capacity (EC), and foam stability (FS) (p<0.05), while wettability, viscosity, swelling index, gelatinization temperature, and foam capacity were not significantly affected. Malted mungbean flour played a key role in reducing BD and improving WAC and OAC, indicating its suitability for producing lighter cereals with improved hydration and flavor retention. Significant (p<0.05) interaction effects among the flours, particularly for WAC and EC, highlighted the importance of optimized blend combinations. Foam stability exhibited the highest model predictability (Adj. R² = 0.8596), mainly enhanced by millet inclusion. However, these findings support the development of nutritionally enhanced, consumer-acceptable breakfast cereals with improved reconstitution, texture, and stability, suitable for children, adults, and the elderly, and valuable for commercial cereal formulation and product optimization.