Rheological, textural, and technological modifications in wheat unleavened flatbread substituted with extruded finger...

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Cereal Chemistry
• Nutritional Enhancement

Background:

• Finger millet enhances wheat flour's nutritional value and health benefits for flatbread.
• Unextruded finger millet (UFM) negatively impacts flatbread quality, affecting texture and handling.
• Extrusion processing of finger millet offers a potential solution to improve composite flour properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of extruded finger millet (EFM) versus UFM on the pasting, textural, and rheological properties of wheat composite dough.
• To assess the effect of EFM substitution on the quality attributes of wheat-based flatbread.
• To compare the performance of EFM with UFM in wheat flour composite flatbreads.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of pasting properties (viscosity, gelatinization).
• Textural analysis of dough (firmness, extensibility) and flatbread (resistance, shrinkage).
• Rheological measurements (viscoelastic moduli, elastic share of compliance) and sensory evaluation of flatbread.

Main Results:

• EFM significantly improved dough handling, increasing viscoelastic moduli and elastic share of compliance.
• Dough exhibited reduced firmness and increased extensibility with EFM substitution.
• Flatbread with 20% EFM showed superior puffing, reduced baking time, and comparable sensory scores to control.

Conclusions:

• Extruded finger millet (EFM) flour positively modifies dough rheology and texture compared to unextruded finger millet (UFM).
• Substituting wheat flour with 20% EFM results in high-quality flatbread with excellent technological and sensory attributes.
• EFM represents a viable ingredient for producing nutritious and high-quality composite wheat flatbreads.