Amino acid profile and sensory evaluation of cookies enriched with sweet melon peel and seed flours

The increasing demand for functional foods and the need to reduce agro-waste have driven interest in utilizing fruit by-products in food formulations. This study investigated the amino acid profile (AA), essential (EAA) and non-essential amino acid (NEAA) analysis, and sensory properties of cookies enriched with sweet melon (Cucumis melo) peel and seed flours using the standard methods. The concentrations of EAA, specifically histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine, varied from 0.65 to 3.44 g/100g, 0.97 to 2.77 g/100g, 0.54 to 4.43 g/100g, 0.63 to 2.48 g/100g, 1.65 to 4.65 g/100g, 1.45 to 4.38 g/100g, 1.66 to 3.65 g/100g, 1.20 to 3.25 g/100g, and 1.62 to 4.35 g/100g, respectively. The concentrations of NEAA, specifically arginine, alanine, aspartic acid, cystine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine, ranged from 0.80 to 2.58 g/100g, 0.88 to 1.97 g/100g, 0.66 to 2.71 g/100g, 0.77 to 2.75 g/100g, 0.78 to 1.97 g/100g, 0.83 to 1.92 g/100g, 0.86 to 1.55 g/100g, 1.15 to 1.88 g/100g, and 2.55 to 3.89 g/100g, respectively. The amino acid composition improved, particularly in EAA like leucine, lysine, and methionine, while NEAA such as arginine, cysteine, and tyrosine also showed significant enhancement. Sensory evaluation and principal component analysis revealed that cookies containing sweet melon peel and seed flours exhibited favorable attributes such as sweet taste, pleasant aroma, appealing color, and firm texture, while some formulations showed less desirable traits like sourness, graininess, or weak aroma. This novel food formulation provides an innovative functional health snack for future product development and commercialization