Designing nutritionally improved waffles containing glycerol monostearate based oleogel and aquafaba

Plant-based diets are considered healthier and more sustainable, while solutions are sought to replace saturated fats in foods products. Aquafaba (AF) from chickpea cans was foamed to formulate waffles. AF was concentrated at three dry matter contents. Gluten-free oat flour and an oleogel (OG) containing 50 g kg^-1 glycerol monostearate were also used as ingredients. Three factors (AF concentration, whipping time and type of fat) were varied on two levels to obtain the samples.

Fourier transform infrared analysis revealed protein specific peaks that are responsible for the foaming properties of AF. Concentrated AF had a gel-like behaviour (G' > G''), caused by the denaturation of proteins. AF21 was significantly stronger (G' = 89.22 ± 3.17 Pa) compared to AF14 (G' = 3.81 ± 0.3 Pa). Dough samples with AF7 and OG had a significantly higher hardness at the same whipping time compared to their oil counterparts (e.g. 10.78 ± 0.16 N for sample 6 versus 4.81 ± 0.34 N for 8). Waffles' springiness was low due to the gluten-free oat flour. A positive correlation (r = 0.743) was found between protein and hardness. One formulation was chosen for the sensory evaluation based on the principal component analysis. Principal component (PC) 1 accounted for 60.2% of the variance and PC 2 explained 24.4%. All samples had low hedonic scores and the most preferred sample was the control with wheat flour.

This study demonstrates that AF concentration and the usage of OG influence the characteristics of waffles. © 2026 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.