Development and evaluation of apricot kernel flour supplemented cookies

Reducing fat and increasing dietary fiber in food is now becoming an important aspect of public health. Apricot kernel consumption imparts promising physiological functions beyond substantial amount of basic nutrients like protein, vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and fatty acids, also contains beta-carotene, total polyphenolics and total antioxidant capacity. These health promoting agents provide protection against various diseases including hypercholesterolemia, heart diseases, cancer, obesity and many other degenerative diseases. Being a rich source of nutrients, apricot kernel is widely used in different bakery products. In order to enhance the functional and nutritional value of cookies, apricot kernel flour was used to replace the shortening. In the present study, apricot kernel flour was added in formulation of low fat cookies at different concentrations as 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% to substitute shortening and increase dietary fiber contents. Finalized product was analyzed through different physicochemical analysis and sensory attributes evaluated by sensory penal. The results demonstrated that apricot kernel flour had high contents of crude fat, crude fiber and crude protein. The crude fiber contents of cookies were improved from 0.11 -2.68% by increasing the levels of apricot kernel flour. Addition of AKF decreased the spread ratio and increased the hardness of the cookies. However, sensory evaluation revealed that the cookies containing AKF 40% and 60% were acceptable not only nutritionally but also sensory view point. TDF contents of the cookies increased significantly as the AKF supplementation increased. AKF is a suitable replacer of shortening in cookies at 40% and 60% than other treatments. From the results, it is concluded that by replacing shortening with AKF played important role in enhancing the nutritional properties of cookies by improving their fiber content, reducing fat content and overall nutritional properties during storage up to 45 days at room temperature. The data obtained from each parameter was subjected to statistical analysis.