Development of Gluten-Free Muffins with β-Glucan and Pomegranate Powder Using Response Surface Methodology

More consumers are being diagnosed with celiac disease or diseases in which wheat products should be avoided. For this reason, it is important to increase the range of gluten-free products available. In this study, it was decided to optimize the technology for the creation of a muffin with β-glucan (BG) and pomegranate (PG), while establishing water share (WT), using the response surface methodology. It was shown that β-glucan and water had the most significant influence on specific volume and moisture (p ≤ 0.001). However, the increase of hardness, color, and total phenolic content (TPC) was mainly influenced by the increase of pomegranate content (p ≤ 0.01 for harness and color and p ≤ 0.001 for TPC). Consumers accepted products high in β-glucan more than high in pomegranate. Optimization ended with a composition that included 1.89% BG, 9.51% PG, and 77.87% WT. There were no significant differences between the model and the experimental sample, apart from higher consumer acceptability.