Rheological properties and biscuit production from flour blends prepared from cereal based by-products

The technological advances in the processing of cereal products allow separating of different milling fractions, which can be used as functional additives in food formulations. These by-products can be used to improve the technological performance and/or to integrate foods with healthy compounds such as dietary fiber, phenolics and antioxidants. In this study, various types of cereal by-products including wheat, barley and oat brans, bulgur bran, poppy waste and wheat germ, were added to the wheat flour. The 10% of the wheat flour used was replaced with the different cereal by-products. Then, the flour blends and control sample were analyzed using standard “Chopin +” protocol of Mixolab equipment for determination of rheological properties. The same blends were also used for biscuit preparation. The Hunter L, a, b values, spread ratio, hardness and sensory properties of biscuits were measured. Water absorption and dough development time were slightly affected by addition of the products. In general, the addition of the by-products into the flour resulted higher dough stability (3.35-11.22 min) and higher torque by C2 (0.38-0.052 Nm) except for addition of the wheat germ. This indicates strong dough structure. Adding cereal by products except for wheat germ mostly decreased (p≤0.05) lightness (L), spread ratio and overall acceptance and increased (p≤0.05) hardness of biscuit samples