The present study was conducted in the Department of Food Technology and Nutrition, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara (Punjab). Pumpkins were obtained from a local market, and the seeds were separated from the pulp. For the preparation of cookies, the required ingredients, namely, amaranth flour, corn flour, butter, milk, and refined sugar, were bought in a single lot from the local market of Jalandhar. Four types of cookies were developed in this study viz., Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, and Type 4, with 100, 80, 60 and 40 percent of corn flour with the addition of Amaranth seed flour in 0,10,20, and 30 percent and Pumpkin seeds in the same proportion as that of amaranth seed flour as shown in Table 1.
Treatment Details
Table 1
Ingredients | Type 1 | Type 2 | Type 3 | Type 4 |
Corn Flour(g) | 100 | 80 | 60 | 40 |
Amaranth(g) | - | 10 | 20 | 30 |
Pumpkin seed(g) | - | 10 | 20 | 30 |
Fats(g) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
Sugar(g) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
Salt(g) | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Water(ml) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
Baking Powder(g) | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Vanilla essence | 3drops | 3drops | 3drops | 3drops |
Dough Making and Mixing
Dough preparation begins with mixing and stirring the ingredients. The butter and sugar were first mixed at a high speed until the creamy mixture was formed. salt and baking soda were added then flour was added for the soft texture of the dough, water and other ingredients were added. The dough was kept still for 10 minutes to allow the flour to fully hydrate and help to make the cookie dough firmer. Thereafter, the Cookies were printed using the molded cookie method, in which the dough is molded by hand, rounded, and then flattened. and then the printed cookies were baked at 150°C for 15 minutes.
Proximate analysis, estimation of bioactive compounds and Antioxidant Activity: -
Cookies were tested for quality such as Moisture content, Protein, Fats, Ash, Crude Fiber, and Carbohydrates. The following tests were conducted by several methods i.e. Moisture content, was analyzed with the oven method (AOAC, 2012), ash content with the furnace method (AOAC, 2006), protein content with the Kjeldahl method (AOAC, 2006), fat content with the Soxhlet method (AOAC, 2012), carbohydrate content (by difference) and crude fiber content (AOAC, 2012); Organoleptic quality hedonic quality for color, aroma, taste, and crispness; and test ranking based on the overall level of preference (Permadi, et al., 2018). Whereas bioactive compounds such as Total Phenolic compounds and total flavonoid compounds were screened using methods validated by (Pinto et al., 2020). TPC results are reported as mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per 100 g of cookies (mg GAE/100 g cookies). The TFC was reported as mg of Quercetin equivalents (QE) per 100 g of cookies (mg QE/100 g cookies). The DPPH free radical scavenging method is a fundamental way to assess antioxidant capacity. Initially basic, it involves mixing of samples with DPPH solution and measuring absorbance, it has evolved with a UV Spectrophotometer instrument (Elaıbı, et al., 2023).
Sensory evaluation: -
The employment of a nine-point hedonic scale in sensory analysis offers a straightforward and efficient way to assess the sensory characteristics of cookies. This scale is commonly utilized to investigate sensory distinctions among cookies or other food items and can even forecast consumer acceptance of new food products. One of the benefits of employing the nine-point hedonic scale is its user-friendly nature, requiring less extensive training for participants compared to other scaling methods. Moreover, it simplifies data management and possesses an equivalent level of sensitivity to alternative scaling techniques, rendering it a dependable instrument for evaluating sensory properties (Wichchukit et al., 2015). A opinion poll was administered using a nine-point Hedonic scale, with ratings from one (1) indicating "extremely dislike" to nine (9) denoting "extremely like." The attributes evaluated encompassed color, texture, flavor, taste, mouthfeel, and overall acceptability Ayo et al., (2018).
Physical properties of cookies
Cookies were tested for Physical properties such as volume, weight, specific volume, diameter, thickness and spread ratio. The measurement of cookies' diameter (width), thickness and spread factor was evaluated according to AOCC 2006 method. The spread factor ratio was measured by calibrating the diameter thickness of the cookies (Sharma et al., 2022).
Statistical Analysis
Experimental data was analyzed using one-way and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) trials in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Stats data was analyzed by using the software SPSS version 25. A significant level of 5% was selected to interpret the obtained results after statistical investigation. Critical difference (CD) was calibrated to determine the significant difference between the samples for each parameter.